


Mated

by Softboyshawn



Category: Shawn Mendes (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Soulmates, Werewolf Mates, shawn mendes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-07 14:54:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16856077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Softboyshawn/pseuds/Softboyshawn
Summary: Summary: You and Shawn find out you’re mates. He’s an alpha werewolf. You’re a human. Together you’ll over come more than you could ever imagine but it’ll take some serious strength and trust to get there.





	Mated

Welcome to Mayfair, population 355. Where the weather is always fairly nice and the people are friendly. Oh and most of the town is made up a werewolves. That’s right, Mayfair is what is known as a pack town. While primarily the residents are werewolves, there are a few humans sprinkled into the mix. Pack towns were becoming gradually more popular across North America although the concept dated back to the late 1800’s in Europe when entire villages would be nothing but werewolves masquerading as humans.

Nowadays werewolves are common place and though there are still people who absolutely detest them, it’s become normal to pass a werewolf on the street everyday. Not that you could really tell the difference between most werewolves and humans. Most often the differences were subtle and overlooked by a person who did not live among them day to day.

Growing up in Mayfair was a little different then growing up in any regular town. Of course you had school, sports, movie nights and everything else kids did throughout their youth. But there were a few things about your childhood that you didn’t know didn’t happen to other kids in other towns.

For example, in your school, which was the main high school for four area pack towns, you never had school on the day of the full moon. Students thirteen years and older were allowed to have three days off of school each month without repercussions, female students were allowed up to seven days off. You attended two different health classes in middle school and your first year of high school. Despite the fact you were a human, and you did not need those seven days a month for your developing werewolf body, you got them. It was only fair that all students were treated equally.

Most of your friends were werewolves and through them and your health classes, since you had to attend the werewolf and basic human growth classes, you learned that as you got older your female friends would go into heat. They would fall seemingly ill and be kept home for several days, thus the seven days allowed by the school board.

Unfortunately for you, most of your friends would hit their heats at the same time and you would be left all alone at school for several days. But it became normal, living it day in and day out. You never thought anything different of your werewolf friends and human friends. Nothing bothered you about them.

Fast forward and it’s your twentieth birthday and you receive a small brown envelope in the mail. At first you thought it was a birthday card from someone out of town, but it smelled heavily of spices and woodsmoke. You open it, curious as to who the sender was since there was not a return address written on the front of the envelope. You pull out the off white paper inside and begin reading;

Your presence has been requested by the village elder, Myra. Upon receiving this letter please report to the elders home on the Oak Grove estate.

Your heart sinks. A summons to the elder’s home was no joke. Though you were a human and not bound by the werewolf laws, she was a well respected woman that helped build the town and it would be rude and cause trouble not to answer her summons.

It’s after six when you decide to go and meet with Myra. You didn’t tell anyone about the letter, in fear that your mother would think something was terribly wrong. Your friends wouldn’t be any help because they would probably just panic on your behalf. You pull your jacket close against you as you walk up the long leaf covered walkway to the old wooden house tucked behind the large mansion nestled in the middle Oak Grove estate, the home of the town’s alpha and his family. It’s mid October and the air was crisp, cool enough to warrant a light jacket, but your shaking didn’t have much to do with the weather.

As you approach you see someone leaning against the railing of the wooden deck in front of the house. It’s Shawn, the alpha’s only son, and Myra’s great grandson. Shawn is pretty hard to miss, what with how he towered over everyone and everything. He was one of those werewolves that you could tell what he was just by being around him. His energy felt different, his eyes were too golden brown to be human but that was because he wasn’t, he was an alpha. There weren’t too many of those in your town. Maybe a handful, two of them being Shawn and his father, Manny.

You and Shawn had gone to school together, you had a few acquaintances in common, shared a few classes. Attended the same parties a few times. Familiar by association. He had never really been on your radar until senior year when he shot up a foot and a half in nine months and filled out, gaining muscle everywhere and going from lanky to fit in no time. He truly was a sight to be seen.

“Hey, Shawn,” you call out, raising a sleeve covered hand in greeting. He’s dressed in jeans and a short sleeve shirt, as if it weren’t a solid 55 degrees out. He waves and gives a little nod but doesn’t say anything until you get closer. “Are you visiting Myra too?”

Shawn rakes a hand through his mess of dark curls, it looks like he just let it dry after getting out of the shower. All mess and no styling. It was pretty attractive if you did say so yourself. “Yeah, uh, she called me and said I needed to come over. Didn’t elaborate.”

You nod, stepping past him and climbing the steps to the porch filled with potted plants, various wind chimes and decorative gourds and pumpkins. The front door is open, screen door pulled back and secured against the house, allowing you to see right into her very small living room.

Shawn follows you, standing close as the two of you step in and you can feel the heat rolling off of him. He greets his great grandmother with a hand on her shoulder as he steps past you and toward the couch on your right. Her whole house smells like cider and wood smoke and you can’t help but notice she has several cups of what actually looks to be cider on the coffee table in front of her.

“Oh I’m so glad you’ve come, dear! Happy birthday, have you had a good day?” Myra asks. Her voice is surprisingly clear and unstrained for a woman who appears to be in her eighties. In fact, for her age she looked amazing. Werewolves were said to age differently than humans, and she was a prime example.

“Yes, I had a great day, thank you. I got your letter and I came as soon as I was available. Is something wrong?” You pick up a cup of the cider as Myra gestures toward it as an offering to get comfortable. You take a seat, sipping the warm beverage and it’s amazing, the best you think you’ve ever had. “Excuse me if I sound rude, but isn’t it a bit out of the ordinary for you to call upon a human?”

Shawn chuckles at that. You’re not sure why, you hadn’t said anything funny. He grabs a cup of the cider and takes a seat beside you, leg pressed against yours. You can feel the heat of his skin radiating through his black jeans. It’s comforting in a way. You hadn’t realized how nervous you were about sitting down with Myra until just then.

“No worries dear. It isn’t often I call upon the humans in our town. I have some very important news for you. For the both of you,” Myra looks over her reading glasses at the two of you. She must have noticed how you shifted uncomfortably at the mention of news.

You’re dreading whatever was coming next. If Shawn was involved you could only assume it meant something has transpired between your families and Myra wanted the two of you to help her sort it out. Your father had once tiffed with Manny, but that was many many years ago. As far as you knew, things were going fine.

Shawn lays his hand on your upper back. It feels hot and it’s just so so big. He rubs up and down gently. It’s a bit strange for him to be so familiar, seeing as the two of you were hardly even friends, just acquaintances at most. But you don’t want him to stop. It felt right. Myra puts her reading glasses aside and sighs softly. “You know that as an elder, I often get visions.”

You nod, hanging on her every word.

“I am often gifted with the visions of our pack’s soulmates, allowing me to match them up to carry on our legacies.”

Shawn’s fingers curl in your shirt and suddenly that comfortable hand had become a fist in your shirt, knuckles resting against your back. “Grandma….what are you getting at?”

Myra smiles a cheeky little smile that only a grandma who knows too much can pull off. “Shawn, it’s not something that can be changed.”

Shawn sits up, legs spreading wide as he leans forward as if he heard her wrong. His leg pushes yours aside, causing you to kind of turn your knees together to the left awkwardly. He runs his free hand through his hair, expression stressed.

“What is he talking about?” you ask, looking between the two wolves.

Myra opens her mouth to speak but Shawn cuts her off. “We’re mates.”

You blink once, twice, three times. Long slow processing blinks. Time passes in slow motion, the words spinning around in your head. You can’t find the words to process this information. Werewolves weren’t supposed to be mated to humans. At least, that wasn’t common and not with an alpha like Shawn. Not sure what you should say you just blurt out, “But…I have a boyfriend.”

Myra chuckles sadly. Shawn pushes off the couch and gets up without another word. He heads to a room through an archway to your left. The tension in the house could be cut with a knife. “Oh dear,” Myra says softly as something in the back of the house breaks.

_____________________

The glass all over the floor in the hall connecting the kitchen and the back bedrooms of the house is evidence that Shawn had hit the wall with his fist and that was what you and Myra heard in the living room. It was unclear why he had been so angry when you said you had a boyfriend. Did Shawn expect you to just dump Liam, your boyfriend, and be his mate because Myra saw it in a vision or whatever? Because fat chance.

You pick up the broken glass of three picture frames on the floor and place them in a plastic bag Myra handed you when you said you would take care of the mess for her. You look at the photos in the frames. Most of the people you don’t recognize, but there are a few you’ve seen at the cafe on Main St. getting coffee and reading the paper in the morning. They must be about the same age as Myra.

You pick up another photo and it’s of Shawn. He’s smiling, about 13 years old maybe, and he has a rabbit in his hands. You laugh to yourself softly because you know that around that age the werewolf boys were taken on their first hunt. There he was holding the rabbit, still very much alive, and looking so proud. You think he must have caught it and didn’t want to hurt it so he brought it back alive.

“What’re you looking at?” Shawn asks from the end of the hall. He’s got his arms crossed, leaning on the doorframe to a bedroom in a stance that seems like it should be pretty casual but is actually very intimidating.

You put the picture aside, saying nothing, not wanting to talk to him if he was in a mood. You clean up the remains of the frames and keep the pictures in a neat pile to give to Myra when you finished. You feel a little uncomfortable as Shawn continues to watch you clean up his mess. “Wanna help with this? It’s your mess,” you say quietly, more to yourself then to him really.

“I would have cleaned it up.”

“Yeah, sure,” you scoff. There are little bits of wood from one of the frames and it’s broken all in bits as if it had been stepped on. You try to focus on getting each piece instead of talking to Shawn.

Shawn lets out a hard breath through his nose, “I really was going to. I’m not an asshole y'know?”

You look up, his words igniting something inside you. Something about the way he sassed you back had you seeing red. “Really? Because you could have fooled me.”

“Excuse me?” he says, stepping forward as if it would help him hear you clearly.

You stand up, palm full of glass and wood bits to put in the trash bag. “Oh you heard me. I said you could have fooled me about not being an asshole.” You take a step forward, and you immediately regret it. You know that your actions would read as a challenge to Shawn. It was something you knew better than to do around an alpha. Sometimes you could be so dumb.

Shawn emits a low growl like noise, something low and caught in his throat. It’s a noise you’ve only heard maybe a handful of times and usually because a fight was about to break out in the school halls. “You should leave,” Shawn says, voice harsh and raspy.

“Why? Because you’re angry your mate is a human? Because I have a boyfriend already?!” You are surprised at your own boldness and you find yourself stepping forward once more. Inside you’re screaming, telling yourself to shut your mouth and leave before this boy does something drastic. But you can’t, you stand still, back straight.

“I swear to fucking god,” Shawn starts, walking toward you, steps slow and calculated. His eyes are golden amber and you take a step back. You clench your fist as you stumble a little, and the glass bits you were holding go into your skin. Immediately you wince at the sharpness and open your hand as blood begins to flow from several glass pricks. Shawn grabs your hand and you flinch, afraid he’s going to hurt you. But when you look up at him, the tension is no longer rolling off him in waves and his eyes a more normal golden brown. His hand is burning hot against yours as he holds it carefully. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. I should have dumped it into the bag.” You look at your hand, the blood collecting in your palm, the skin aching.You try to pull it away but he holds it firmly. He picks the debris off and tosses it in the bag hooked on your arm.

Shawn looks at you for a moment, eyes locked with yours and you want to ask what he wants. He touches your bloodied hand with his fingertips gingerly and you grind your teeth because there’s still glass in the cuts. “Do you trust me?” Shawn asks softly.

“I don’t know? Why?” you ask in an annoyed tone. Why the hell was he talking about this right now? There were more pressing issues like your bleeding hand in his. Who gave a fuck about trust right now?

Shawn pulls you into the bathroom nearby and looks closely at the little pieces of glass wedged into your skin. He digs through a small basket on the counter and gets a pair of tweezers. You pull your hand away, holding it against your side. “No, you’re not digging in my hand with those. I’ll take care of it at home!”

“I can fix it. Promise it won’t hurt,” he says grabbing your hand and holding it tight in his own. He picks carefully with the tweezers, getting each piece out. He sets the tweezers aside and puts his palm flat against yours even though it was still bleeding.

“What’re you-”

“Trust me damnit,” he snaps, and you still try to pull your hand away but he keeps it there. It feels hot, and then hotter and hotter and you think it’s burning. It stings and you jerk your hand back hard enough that it slides out from his hold.

“What the hell was that? What’s on your hand? That burned!”

Shawn grabs your hand roughly, jerking you forward a little on accident. He wipes the blood off with a towel on the counter. There’s no more blood beading up to replace it. You look at your hand and it seems as if there isn’t any cuts on it at all. “I fixed it,” Shawn says quietly before releasing your hand.

“Fixed it? What the hell are you-,” you wash your hand off in the sink and there are no marks on your hand. You touch it, rubbing hard over the spots where the glass went in. There was nothing. No blood, no glass, nothing. “What the hell? Shawn what the hell is this?”

Shawn leans against the counter, crossing his arms. “I fixed it,” he repeats.

“So you can just heal people?!” you exclaim, not really meaning to be so loud as you said it. Was that all he was seriously going to say? This was something else. Werewolves transforming was something you’d grown to accept even though you didn’t quite understand how it worked. But magical healing powers was something new.

“I can’t heal ‘people’, I can heal just you.” Shawn pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs as if this is such a difficult thing to explain. As if you should just know exactly what the hell he’s talking about.

“I don’t understand. You can magically heal me?!”

Shawn lets out a frustrated growl, “It’s because we’re mates!”

“Oh,” you say quietly as the silence grows between the two of you in the cramped bathroom. Shawn pushes off the counter and leaves you standing there with no further explanation, and even more questions than before.

_____________________

The walk home was quiet. Leaves rustled around you, blowing in the breeze that cut through your thin jacket. It was all starting to hit you. So you turned twenty and now your life has been set on a path with Shawn’s because Myra saw it in a vision. How were you going to explain it to your parents? Your friends? Your boyfriend?

You pull your jacket tighter against you, wrapping your arms around yourself to keep warm. It wasn’t fair that you didn’t get to choose who you married. It wasn’t fair that you would have to break up with your boyfriend. No. It wasn’t. So fuck it. Nobody can force you to date Shawn, to love him. Nobody can make you break up with your boyfriend. You huff, breath coming out in a little foggy cloud. The temperature is dropping and you still have several blocks to walk until you’re home.

You hear someone jogging toward you. Probably just someone out for some exercise. You step to the left so they can pass you but their steps slow down to a walk. Glancing back, you see Shawn just behind you, casually walking maybe twenty steps back. His hands are in the pocket of his hoodie he must have put on after you left Myra’s house.

“What, Shawn?” you say, still walking and facing forward. You weren’t sure if he’d even heard you. You shiver and put your hands up into your armpits. It feels like it has to be about forty five degrees out.

“Didn’t want you to walk home alone,” Shawn says after a minute or two. He takes a few long strides and catches up with you easily. “It’s cold, and almost dark out.”

You look up at him, his cheeks are a little flushed. “And I’m almost home. Made it all this way by myself.” You roll your eyes and look forward as the street starts to curve toward the turn you’ll need to take to get to your house.

Shawn kicks some black walnuts in their shells that had fallen off nearby trees. He doesn’t say anything else and just keeps walking with you. The two of you get to your house and you see Liam’s car in the driveway. Part of you is excited to see your boyfriend and the other part is terrified of how Shawn will react to seeing him. “I’m sorry about today. I didn’t know that my grandma was going to do this,” Shawn sounds genuinely sorry. It wasn’t his fault though.

“It’s fine. Nothing has to change right? I mean, her vision doesn’t define us,” you say, stopping just short of your driveway. Afraid that if Shawn walked you to your door and Liam was anywhere in sight it might get ugly.

Shawn smiles weakly. It hurts you in a strange way. You can tell it isn’t a good or even genuine smile, more of a placating one, a smile to soften the blow of the words he would say but didn’t mean. “Yeah, right. Doesn’t define us.” There it was. You read him like a book.

“I know this is different for you because you’re actually a werewolf.” You weren’t sure where you wanted to go with this statement. You had no evidence to support this theory.

“Baby! Hey! I’ve been waiting for you!” Liam shouts, waving wildly from your front porch. You turn to look at him and you groan softly. This was just perfect timing.

Shawn puts his hand on your back and grips your jacket. “Shawn…what’re you doing?” you whisper heatedly. He’s tugging you back slightly as Liam starts walking toward the two of you. “Shawn stop, stop!” you hiss thru your teeth. Liam is going to notice and there will be a lot of questions if Shawn didn’t let go of your jacket.

Liam stops in front of you and smiles at Shawn. “Hey man, you her friend?” Liam puts his hand out for Shawn to shake. “Glad you got her home okay.”

Shawn smiles quick, it’s more of a warning flash of teeth than a smile really. Shawn releases your jacket and lets his hand fall to his side. “Yeah, she’s perfect. Glad I didn’t let her walk home alone.”

“I was getting worried, it’s after dinner and I thought we had plans,” Liam looks at you pointedly. You had forgotten amidst the news from Myra. You give a little pleading look and then mumble something about heading inside to get changed if you were going to go out. “I was worried something happened,” Liam says as he tucks your hair behind your ear.

Shawn covers a growl with a cough. Liam didn’t hear it for what it was, but you did.

Liam puts his arm around you and starts walking you away from Shawn with a “Thanks,” and “Have a good night man.” Liam rubs your arm and kisses your temple. “I’m glad he walked you home. I don’t know what I would do if some werewolf attacked you, they can be so unpredictable, like wild animals. They’re just dangerous.”

You feel your stomach knot up. Did he seriously just say that? As if werewolves were out of control animals? They were people too. It wasn’t like when a werewolf shifted forms they became savage blood thirsty killers unless something provoked them. You look back at Shawn and he’s already started walking down the street. You’re glad it doesn’t seem he heard Liam because with the way Shawn was pulling you away as Liam just walked up, you fear what he might do if he heard that comment.

“So, wanna go to dinner? I know it’s a little late but…” Liam walks his fingers up your arm as you walk up the porch steps.

“I’m not really hungry. Can we go out tomorrow maybe? I’m tired from being so social all day with my family and stuff,” you say, lying through your teeth, praying Liam would buy it. He does and agrees, clearly annoyed, but he agrees nonetheless. You watch as Liam’s car pulls out of the driveway and you head to your room in the basement.

You lay awake listening to a playlist someone sent you a couple weeks ago. It’s after midnight and Liam keeps texting you but you’re ignoring him. The comment he made was making you reconsidering what you liked about him. Sure he was nice, he bought you nice gifts for no reason, he even helped you through the passing of your cat a few months before. But the way he said what he did about werewolves, it made you angry. Liam wasn’t from Mayfair, but that wasn’t an excuse for him to think like that.

There’s a knock on the sliding glass door that goes out to the backyard from your bedroom. You think it’s probably Liam. You get up and toss your blanket aside. You pull your makeshift curtain back and open the blinds to see who it was. It’s not Liam. Definitely too tall to be Liam. You grab your bat from the wall to your left before you flip the light on and see it’s Shawn standing there in sweats and a red hoodie with your high school’s logo on it.

“What the fuck…” you unlatch the door, pull the security bar off the track and slide it open. The cold air rushes in and gives you goosebumps all over. Your thin flannel bottoms and old shirt were not meant to withstand this temperature. “Shawn it’s the middle of the night. What could you possibly be doing at my door in your pajamas?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” he says quietly.

You give him a look of disbelief. Couldn’t sleep so he just rolls up to your house in the middle of the night. Not even your boyfriend did that. Who the hell does that? Crazy people. That’s who. “Go home and take a sleep aid or something.”

“Can I come in?” Shawn asks, voice still strangely quiet. He’s shivering a bit. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him cold. He was alway so physically warm, something you noticed long before today.

You look him over and decide not to make him stand out there any longer. You step aside and he comes in so you can lock the door back up. Good lord what were you doing? Inviting him in like this was so out of character for you. You wouldn’t even let Liam stay past ten at night when he was over. “Are you okay? I mean you’re like shivering, and aren’t you usually warm?”

“I’m sorry I just showed up. I went for a run to tire myself out and I ended up here. I saw your light was on and I-” Shawn shakes his head and drops down to sit on your bed where it was on the floor. Your bed frame broke a few weeks back and you hadn’t gotten around to getting a new one yet. He lays back, legs half sticking off the side of the bed. “I’m sorry. I should just leave you alone.”

You sit down next to him and lay back, staring at the old stick on glow in the dark stars on your ceiling. “You can’t though, right? It’s like you’re drawn to me?”

Shawn looks at you, eyes so tired. “…yeah, how did you know?”

“My friend Ashley got married last year. You remember her right? She married Corey, the guy who opened the coffee shop on Main St. She would tell me all about how she couldn’t resist him, how he drove her crazy. She said she went to Myra for advice and was told he was her mate.” You turn your head to look at Shawn. He’s got a little tiny bit of stubble on his jaw and you smile to yourself. His face was so sweet and soft looking, imagining him with a beard or even just five o’clock shadow was humorous. “I understand more than you might think. Not everything, but somethings.”

“Do you think werewolves are dangerous and unpredictable? I heard what Liam said today and I just…it’s been bothering me.”

“No, Shawn. I grew up here, surrounded by werewolves my whole life. I know they aren’t dangerous. Liam is an asshole who doesn’t understand anything outside his closed mind.”

Shawn turns his head to look at you, eyes falling closed. He keeps opening them halfway and then closing them again, he isn’t long for consciousness. “Then why stay with him?”

You shrug. It’s a very good question actually. Why do you stay with him? This was not the first time he made off hand comments about things that he shouldn’t. Did you stay because it meant you weren’t alone? Was it because he was the first cute guy to give you attention? There were a lot more reasons to walk away then there were to stay.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. That was rude of me.”

“No, it’s fine. You have a point, but I just can’t answer that question yet.”

Shawn makes an attempt to sit up but falls back. He is clearly exhausted and you can’t imagine how long he must have been running before he worked up the courage to stop by your house. Wolves had incredible stamina so you’re thinking he must have been out there for well over an hour. “I should go home,” he mumbles, more of slurs, as he tries to keep his eyes open.

You reach over and push a curl out of his face. They’ve gone wild as they’ve dried from the rain. “I don’t know if you could make it home,” you giggle as his eyes fall closed completely. He rolls onto his side and tugs you close, nosing into your neck. Oh god. You’re not sure what to do. He’s got you in a vice grip and he is now fast asleep. You decide to just close your eyes and enjoy his warmth that’s radiating through you. You can’t believe you’ve just given into him like this. Not even Liam was allowed to stay the night and here Shawn was, barely an acquaintance, sharing your bed. Maybe there was something to this mate deal.

_____________________

It’s just after 4am when you wake up in a cold sweat. Your shirt feels stuck to your skin and you feel a sharp cramping pain in your lower stomach. Oh no, not now. No no no. You sit up, confused by the weight on your body and Shawn’s arm falls on to your lap. Right. He’d fallen asleep and you gave into letting him stay. That makes matters so much worse. You’re sure you have started your period and if you don’t get to the bathroom immediately it was going to be bad. You push Shawn’s arm off and scoot carefully to the edge of the bed. It’s too late. The moment you get your feet on the floor and go to push off, you can feel your uterus betray you.

Shawn stirs, pushing himself up on his forearms. He looks back and forth across the bed before looking over at you. He rolls over off of his stomach and sits up. “Where’d you go?” he asks, voice heavy with sleep.

“I’m fine,” you answer curtly as you slowly inch across the room, praying the blood doesn’t show through your dark flannel pants.

Shawn leans forward and you shuffle quicker across the floor, trying not to look like you’re in pain. “Are you okay?” he asks and you can’t help the little whimper that escapes your lips in response. So much for hiding it.

In a second he’s off the bed, hand on your back, worry in his eyes. You wish nothing more than for him not to be touching you right now. It was embarrassing enough to have started your period while he was in your bed, let alone the spot that was probably growing on the back of your pants. “Why are you so quiet? Is it your stomach? Are you hurt?” He tries to put his hand on your stomach but you push it away.

“I’m fine Shawn. Please go sit down. I just need to go to the bathroom.” You shuffle forward more. Shawn takes a step back, crossing his arms and standing by the side of your bed. A cramp gets the best of you and you hold your stomach for a second, one hand braced on the door frame.

Shawn is at your side in a second, one hand on your back and one on your stomach. “Something is wrong. I should go get your parents.”

You shake your head, letting out a pitiful self deprecating laugh before you say, “No, don’t get my parents. It’s just my period.”

“Your…Oh. Oh!” Shawn steps back and folds his hands under his arms. “Oh my god I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that was the problem. I’m so sorry,” he keeps babbling sorrys and a flush is high on his cheeks.

“Haven’t you ever been around menstruating girls?” you ask, breathing hard through another cramp.

“Yeah sort of, yeah I guess at school. It was different, I didn’t see them like this!”

“How is this different…y'know what, I don’t care. I just need to get to the bathroom.” You let out a little gasp of pain as a cramp grips your stomach tight. You should have known you would be starting soon. The other day you’d had a few light cramps but you ignored them. Usually you would have put on a preemptive pad just in case of this is exact scenario, but you just didn’t.

Shawn moves close again, putting his hand back on your stomach. He slides his hand under your shirt and you try to push him off as says, “Please trust me.” You give up, knowing he isn’t going to hurt you or anything. He holds his hand there for a second, skin warm against yours. Then suddenly it gets hot, the heat becoming uncomfortable like when he healed your hand yesterday. You grab his shoulder for support, letting out a soft sob, the cramp coming to a full gripping sensation as the heat from him starts to hurt a little. Shawn pulls his hand away, balling his fist at his side. He swallows thickly as he takes a step back to give you space. It looks as if his arm was hurting but you don’t say anything.

The pain is gone. You stand up straighter and open your door to go to the bathroom across the hall. It takes you just a second to realize you haven’t grabbed any underwear or pants to replace your ruined ones. You can’t just get up and walk in there butt naked, blood running down your leg. But you also don’t want to pull your pants back up and go in there either. You would have to suck it up and ask for help.

“Shawn,” you say softly and after a moment you hear a soft hum in response. “Can you grab me some…some underwear and pants?”

There is no immediate response and you wonder for a moment if he had even heard you. But then Shawn knocks on the door. “Here,” he says opening it just a crack and passing through a pair of underwear and your black fuzzy pajama bottoms.

You thank him quietly but you still feel like you could just die of embarrassment. Not only had you started your period, bled through your pants, told Shawn you were menstruating, and let him do some hocus pocus wolf magic on your stomach. He had gone through your pile of folded clothes on your dresser and grabbed your underwear. He touched your underwear. He looked at them, selected them, brought them to your bathroom door and passed them through with nothing but a simple “Here.”

You fix yourself up and take a few deep breaths in the mirror to calm the knots in your stomach. It was nothing. Menstruation was perfectly normal and nothing to be embarrassed about. Shit happens. Shawn was just helping. He probably didn’t mind, in fact he probably didn’t even think twice about it. Yeah. He was chill. It was fine. Once you slip into your room you notice Shawn is sitting on your bed thumbing through a magazine off your floor. “Make yourself at home why don’t you?” you chuckle as you shove your stained clothes in your laundry hamper behind the door. 

Shawn drops the magazine and stands up. “I promise I didn’t go through your underwear, they were just sitting on top. I figured whatever was fine. I didn’t see anything else I promise I-”

“Shawn.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” you smile at him softly. As embarrassing as it was for you, it wasn’t actually that big of a deal. It was just underwear after all. Periods are normal. He didn’t see you naked or something. “I’d like to try and get some more sleep.” You look to the bed and then to the sliding glass door. Part of you wants him to stay, the other wants him to go. You look him over as he stands there waiting for you to make up your mind. It’s hard. He’s so attentive, so sweet to you and you were starting to feel like maybe he felt ‘right’. The more you thought about it, the more you wanted to end things with Liam, even if it wasn’t to end up dating Shawn. Liam had never been so concerned for you, not once could you remember him asking if you were okay or even bothering to call you when you were sick or something. Sure, he had provided comfort after your cat died, but even then it seemed like he had felt obligated to do so. Shawn was showing you that there are better options in this world, that you don’t need to settle.

“Will you stay?” you ask and Shawn’s face lights up. He looks like a kid on christmas as you crawl into the bed and hold the blanket back for him. It was undeniable, the chemistry you had with Shawn. He was easy to be with, to talk to. He was comfortable.

Shawn’s hand brushes against your stomach under the blankets, eyes meeting yours only a few inches away on your pillow. “Can I?”

You nod and he lays his hand on you. The touch is more intimate than just friends but far from scandalous and you can’t help but think about Liam. Everything you had with him was falling apart for you as Shawn opened up the door of what a better relationship might be. Was it considered cheating letting someone you felt comfortable with sleep in your bed? You and Shawn were not doing anything outside of a close platonic friendship. But the feelings you were having for Shawn went beyond being his friend, beyond platonic. No, you didn’t want to just be his friend. Your stomach turns over. Was it wrong to want something, someone, better? You lay there a while longer arguing with yourself before finally coming to a conclusion. It wasn’t cheating to you if you were just sleeping with Shawn, because it wasn’t any different than sleeping in the same bed as a friend. You were not romantically involved. But it didn’t matter because you’ve decided it was going to be over for you with Liam. You want better, whether that be Shawn or someone else. After yesterday, with what Liam said about werewolves and after Shawn being so good to you, showing you that a partner should be there and show compassion and concern and not act like it was a daunting obligation. You know you not only want better, but you deserve it.

_____________________

Four days pass and you haven’t heard from Liam since your birthday. You texted him “Sorry fell asleep last night” after Shawn left the morning after your birthday. You texted him again that night, and then again the next morning, asking to meet up with him soon. He never replies and leaves you on read. It’s rude. Annoying. Further showing that you deserve better.

Shawn would stop by almost every day, always knocking on your sliding glass door to see if you were home. He didn’t stay the night again, didn’t even come in usually. He would just stop by and check on you, one day he even brought you a candy bar. Usually his visits lasted no more than a few minutes, with him standing outside the door while you went over the same questions.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine, very tired.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m good. Thank you though.”

Shawn would usually nod and mumble that he would see you later on. He didn’t ask about Liam. He didn’t ask to stay the night again. It was just the same couple of questions and then he’d go back home. You wonder if you had pushed the boundaries too far the night of your birthday, or may he thought he had.

You’re watching a movie while taking a break from your homework when your phone starts ringing. You pick it up and look at the name that pops up on the screen. It’s Liam. It seems he’s finally decided to acknowledge your texts. What the hell was his problem? Who blatantly ignored their girlfriend? It pisses you off. It really did. You had thought about spamming his phone until you got a reply sooner but it just wasn’t worth your time to do so. Four days now you’d been going over in your head every time he’s done this in the past. How he would just go missing for a few days and then suddenly text or call you like you hadn’t been trying to get ahold of him. You always dismissed it because you were just happy to talk to him again, to get to go out, to not be lonely. You had always been a little afraid to ask him why he didn’t call or text earlier because you didn’t want to start a fight. Now you’ve had enough. You didn’t need him or his shit any more. The way that the way Liam left you in the dark wasn’t right, wasn’t how a relationship should work and you were going to tell him.

“Hello?” you answer, putting the phone on speaker and laying it down next to you.

“Hey baby, was just calling to see if you still wanted to get your birthday dinner?”

“My birthday was four days ago. Liam, where have you been?” you ask, trying to keep your voice calm. It’s the first time you’ve questioned why he didn’t reply and you were already angry from reviewing the past times like this in your head so it’s a little hard to stay calm. “Why didn’t you text me back?”

“I was busy. I’m always really tired after work, you know that baby.”

It’s making you sick how he calls you baby. It used to feel cute and endearing. Now it felt wrong. “For four days you couldn’t just shoot me a text saying anything? You were that tired? Really?”

Liam scoffs, his voice taking an annoyed tone. “What’s your problem? I said I was busy. What is with all these questions?”

“Can we meet up? We need to talk about-” you start to say you need to talk about your future, or lack thereof, with him but you hear a female’s voice in the background and you stop. He keeps saying “Hello” over and and over but you ignore him, listening to the female voice. “Who’s with you?”

Liam is quiet for a moment. “I’m at work.”

You look at your clock over your desk. It’s after 7pm. He got off work at 5pm. “No you’re not.”

“Excuse me? Yes I am. I had to work late!” Liam sounds defensive and the female voice in the background suddenly stops. You hear an “Oh! Shit sorry!” just as Liam takes a deep breath and says, “Baby, we need to talk about your attitude.”

Your attitude? Did he actually say that? You were not about to let him hang up until you got some answers. Being a shitty boyfriend was one thing but cheating? Lying about where he is? Oh fuck no. “Liam, your boss would never let you work this late. Who are you with?”

“I’m at a friend’s okay? Don’t worry about it. Did you want to get dinner still?”

“No, I don’t want to get dinner with you. I-I don’t even want to see you!” you shout, not caring you’re becoming irate and emotional. You’re not even trying to hide it anymore. “Liam, are you at a girls house!?”

“What is your problem?! Do you think I’m cheating on you?!” Liam is yelling. He’s clearly angry you’ve just caught him in the act and he was vehemently trying to deny it.

“Yes! Yes, I do! You just lied about where you are, you won’t answer your phone for days! Is this what you do every time you ignore me for days? Do you go to your ‘friend’s’ house?!”

“Y’know what, fuck you! I gave you everything and this is how you’re going to repay me? Go fuck yourself, because it’s not like anyone else but me was ever going to. I hated coming to that piece of shit town you live in anyways, wasn’t worth my time. I only kept dating you because I pitied you. ” Liam hangs up the phone and you’re laying there processing what just happened.

Tears start falling, running down your cheeks and wetting the pillow in your lap. You were so angry and so done with him but it still hurt. He just implied he was only dating you for the sex and that you weren’t worth anyone’s time. Like he had been doing you a favor by being with you. You’d spent the last nine months ‘dating’ him and probably the whole time he was fucking another chick? So what, you were his side chick? His main chick? How long had he been cheating on you? How could you have been stupid enough not to realize any of this earlier?

You sob, shaking and struggling to breathe. You wipe your tears away with your sweater as a soft knock comes from your sliding door. You take a deep breath and go over to it and push the blinds aside and see Shawn standing there in a soaking wet hoodie and jeans. It’s pouring rain and water is pooling in the yard behind him. “Not now, Shawn, please go home,” you sniff loudly, yelling through the glass door, reluctant to open it. You didn’t want Shawn to see you like this.

“Please let me in. I heard your phone call,” Shawn tugs the door open and you wish you had put the stopper bar in the bottom. “I got here just as Liam was saying he had to work late. I should have left but I just couldn’t. Are you okay?”

You shake your head. “I hate him,” you whimper before breaking into another round of chest aching sobs. “He was cheating on me. He only wanted to fuck me,” you’re shaking harder, stomach sick, arms wrapped around yourself, “like he was doing me a favor because I’m not good enough for anyone.”

Shawn pulls you against him. His hoodie is soaked but you don’t care. He holds you against him, hand gripping your shirt. “Fuck him,” Shawn says, lips pressed into your hair. “He’s wrong, you’re perfect.”

“How can you say that? We’re barely even friends,” your voice is muffled by his chest.

Shawn moves back just enough so that he can look down at you. You glance down and notice he’s making a wet spot on your carpet. He brings his hand up and wipes your tears off your cheek. “Believe me, you’re perfect.”

“You’re just saying that because you think I’m your mate.”

“I’m saying it because I know you’re my mate. I wish you could feel the same way I feel drawn to you.”

You leans your forehead against his chest. “Maybe I could learn to,” you let out a breathy half laugh, “Maybe I was supposed to break up with Liam. Is that crazy? Maybe this was all supposed to happen so I end up with someone good like you.”

Shawn shakes his head. “Not crazy at all.”

You step back away from him and look him over. You wipe your eyes again and laugh softly at him. “You’re making a mess,” you point at the damp circle he’s standing in.

He looks down and steps back toward the sliding door. “Oh shit, sorry. I can dry it off if you give me a towel.” He squats down to touch it and see if it’s totally soaked through.

“Maybe we should dry you off first,” you say as you grab a towel from your laundry hamper. “eliminate the source of wetness?” Shawn stands up and peels his hoodie off in one fluid motion, hanging it on your computer chair to dry. You drop the towel and stare at him because holy fucking shit. Who actually looked like that? How was he that ripped? He was not real.

Shawn looks down at himself and then up again, giving you a sort of shy smile. He knew you were blatantly checking him out and he was no ashamed. You bend down and grab for the towel three times before getting it and holding it out to him without saying anything. He takes it and starts rubbing his chest dry as he says, “Gonna watch me take my pants off too? I don’t mind, but you might want to sit down judging by your reaction to my chest.”

_____________________

You turn around as Shawn pulls his jeans off and stare at the far wall, looking around aimlessly at your junk when you catch sight of Shawn in the reflection of the mirror on the back of your door. He’s standing there in his boxers that are clinging to everything, yes, everything, and drying his hair with the towel. He looks up and sees you in the mirror and smiles big, letting out a low chuckle.

“Do you have anything I can wear?” Shawn asks as he wraps the towel around his waist.

You turn around and go to your dresser. “I think I have some sweats and a hoodie maybe?”

“Perfect,” he says as you hand him a pair of your older brother’s black hand me down sweats that are too big for you and an oversized Marines hoodie from your brother that you had folded up on top of your dresser. It’s the only things you have that might fit his huge frame considering your brother was almost the same size. You turn around as he puts them on in case he wanted to take his boxers off. “I’m sorry Liam was such an asshole in the end,” Shawn says softly.

“Don’t be. I should have seen the signs earlier.” You don’t turn around as you talk, you just stare at the wall again. “He had been doing this thing where he would ignore me for days on end and then act like nothing happened.”

Shawn walks forward and stands behind you, “He was cheating on you?”

You turn around at the closeness of his voice, jumping a little when you bump into him. “Y-yeah. God I should have thought of it earlier…I’m so stupid.”

He reaches out and tucks some hair behind your ear. “You’re not stupid. You didn’t want to be lonely.”

Tears sting the corners of your eyes. Your face starts to do that little involuntary frown that happens right before you cry. “I am stupid.” You shake your head, wanting the tears to go away but they don’t. Your eyes fill up and start to spill over with tears, and you let out a shaky sob.

Shawn steps closer and wraps his arms around you. He holds you tight and pets your hair down with one hand. “Maybe we can go for a walk and clear your mind, it’s stopped raining,” he says and you nod against his chest. “Should we tell your parents you’re leaving?”

“Yeah. I’ll tell my mom I’m going out for a bit.” You move away from Shawn and immediately miss his warmth. You go through your bedroom door and yell up the basement stairs that you’re leaving for a bit and you’ll be back in a while. Your mom says something about making beef stew for dinner and that she expects you to eat tonight. You agree and head back to your bedroom.

Shawn’s smiling when you open the door. “Beef stew huh?”

You can’t help but smile a little because his smile so radiant and warming. “Yes, beef stew. No, you’re not staying for dinner.”

Shawn groans teasingly and grabs your jacket off of your bed. You take it from him and put it on, zipping it all the way up and pulling the drawstrings on the hood to keep the heat in. “Let’s go.”

The two of you make your way through the woods a little ways from your house. The rain made it chillier than it had been outside. You walk in silence for a while, just enjoying each others company. Shawn bumps his hand against yours where you have it pulled into the sleeve and you glance down to see if it was an accident. He does it again and you smile a little because you can’t believe he was trying to be sly.

“You wanna hold my hand?” you ask and smirk up at him.

He laughs and rolls his eyes. “If I do?”

You contemplate it for a moment. Would you be comfortable holding hands? Would that lead him on? You didn’t want to do anything to do that, you didn’t want him to think you were already feeling the same. Because you weren’t. Well, maybe a little interested. It was very muddled in your head. In the end you decide to take his hand. You slide your hand out of the sleeve and he threads his fingers between yours.

“So, when did you and Liam meet? I don’t recognize him from school?” Shawn asks after a few minutes of walking hand in hand.

“We met nine months ago. He didn’t go to school with us obviously. He approached me at a the Yankee Candle at the Kingsburg mall. Said I was cute, liked my hair, it was curly that day.” You swallow thickly, remembering how Liam hadn’t always been neglectful of your feelings, but quickly remind yourself it was all for sex in the end.

“I like your hair when it’s curly,” Shawn says with a smile. “It’s so wild.”

“Thanks, it’s actually naturally kind of curly. I just don’t like it sometimes, too messy.”

Shawn tugs your hood back and runs his hand through your hair. “Messier the better with curls.”

“Shawn…” you look up at him, surprised at his bold move, and he pulls his hand away.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I forget sometimes, I’m more into you than you are into me.”

You smile at him and shake your head, “It’s not that I’m not into you. It just surprised me.”

The woods ahead are thick, darker than where you were. You pull Shawn to the left, down a path toward the area where the woods connected to the Oak Grove estate, Shawn’s home. “So, how does it feel? Like for you?”

Shawn hums, “How’s what feel?”

“Being mated. What does that feel like?”

Shawn flushes a little bit before he clears his throat and says, “Ah, well, it’s complicated. It feels like I’m always burning up when I’m around you. Like, there’s something inside me that’s fighting to get out when you’re near.”

You raise your eyebrows and let out a half laugh, “That doesn’t sound very good.”

“No, no it is!” Shawn laughs and swings your joined hands. “It feels like…like I’m so happy I could explode. It feels like on Christmas when you know what’s in that one specially wrapped box and you know it’s the one thing you wanted so bad and you’re actually getting it.”

“That’s crazy, there’s no way that’s the same feeling,” you laugh and smile up at him and he stops to step in front of you and grabs your other hand. It feels strange, being so comfortable with him like this when only an hour or two ago you were crying because of Liam. “Shawn..what’re you doing?”

“I wish you could feel it. I wish you could feel how I’m burning up and my body is humming and I can’t see anything but you right now.”

“Shawn…” you say quietly, staring up at him, letting the rest of your thought trail off. You’re not moving, not pulling your hands away and neither is he. You don’t want to move an inch in fear it’ll ruin the moment. It feels so right, standing here hand in hand with him.

He’s looking at you, eyes searching yours for any sign of how you feel. He’s trying to transfer the feeling he’s described to you, you just know it. You can feel his hands getting hotter in yours and you look down, breaking eye contact for just a second. “You feel it?” he asks, voice hopeful and you nod a little.

“I feel your hands burning up,” you look up at him once more and his eyes are golden and so pretty. Last time you saw them like this, you had challenged him out of spite in Myra’s hallway.

Shawn leans in and your heart races. You think he’s going to kiss you and you aren’t sure you’re really in a position to be doing that quite yet. He leans his forehead against yours and his eyes are closed. You close yours too and the two of you stand there quietly while the wind rustles the freshly fallen leaves around you.

“Shawn?” someone calls out from behind you. You open your eyes at the same time Shawn does. He looks up and past you to see who was calling for him as you turn around to see who it was.

A tall girl with long brown hair comes walking toward you. She’s dressed in a very fashionable dark vest and pants with with tall boots on. She looks like one of those girls off the cover of a Fall fashion catalogue. As she approaches you realize who she is. It’s Taylor Velacruz, you knew her from school, the two of you were in a lot of the same classes. “Shawn! Oh, sorry I didn’t realize I was interrupting you and your….” she trails off as she looks you over.

“Mate,” Shawn says firmly as he puts his arm around your middle. You swallow thickly, aware of how protective Shawn was being. You decide to keep quiet and wait until she addressed you.

“Oh! I didn’t know it’d been announced. I’d thought I would have caught wind of it, since our families are pretty close and all.”

“We’re keeping it quiet for now.” Shawn seems different. Cold, guarded, arm tight against you. “A mutual decision.”

Taylor makes an ohh face and nods, with a sickening sweet smile, “Cuz she’s a human right?”

You frown and start to say something about how Taylor should mind her own business but Shawn cuts you off. “You should keep going, now, Taylor.”

“Bossy bossy alpha,” Taylor singsongs as she starts walking past the two of you. “Wish you were that bossy when we were together, makes me feel all warm inside.” She winks and turns away to go about her business.

Your cheeks get hot and you feel…angry? Jealous? Shawn was your mate and she needed to back off with that shit. You watch her until she’s out if sight behind some trees. “What’s her problem?”

“You’re her problem. We used to date, she thought for sure I was her mate. Turns out she was just obsessed with me,” Shawn releases his hold on your middle and takes your hand, leading you back the way you came. “She thinks because our families are close she had some advantage to being my mate. She wants an alpha so bad it’s depressing.”

“She can’t have you,” you say quietly and Shawn stares at you curiously while you walk.

“Oh?” He asks coyly.

“Shut up…”

“Alright,” Shawn says, smiling big. The two of you walk back to your house in comfortable silence, the events that just unfolded, the feelings you were having, all of it swimming around in your head.

_______________________

Shawn stops by almost everyday for the next two weeks. Some days he stays for a while and others he’s in and out because he was just on his way to go do some work with his uncle who owned a custom wood furniture business in town. The days he stays you’ve usually got some reading or a webinar for your online courses you signed up for at the beginning of the fall. He will just come in, no longer waiting to be invited since you leave your sliding door unlocked, and he just lays on your bed with you. Usually he falls asleep curled around you from behind while you’re taking notes or focusing on the demonstration in one of the webinars. It’s comfortable, easy, nice to feel cared for.

A few times he has brought some take out from the only chinese place in town. You don’t know how he found out it was your favorite place, but he did. That or he just guessed, or it was his favorite too. Today is one of those days and as Shawn steps through the doorway, you can see he has a bag of food from the chinese place again, and there is a little extra brown bag with the shop’s logo on it. It’s the bag they use for their special maki rolls, your absolute favorite thing. You become instantly suspicious of Shawn’s knowledge about the chinese place being your favorite. Before it would easily have been a coincidence, but this time…the order was too perfect.

“Do you have maki rolls?” you ask from your place on the bed, eyes narrowing in on the bag.

“Sure do. You like them?” Shawn smiles, sets the larger bag of containers on your desk and waves the little bag at you. “I got extra.”

“They’re my favorite. Who told you? Did someone tell you?” You grab for the bag as he holds it over your head. “Spill the bean, Mendes!”

Shawn laughs loudly at your affectionately angered use of his last name. He keeps the bag away from you. “If I told you how I knew, what do I get in return?”

“Hmm, I won’t kick you?”

“Oh you’re not gonna kick m-” You kick your leg out and knock him right in the shins. “Ow!” He drops down a bit, favoring his leg and you snatch the maki roll bag from him.

“I’m not gonna do what now?” you smile as you pull out a maki roll and a little cup of hot chili sauce. “Now, tell me who told you this was my favorite.”

Shawn drops down on the bed next to you, takes the bag away, and grabs the one you have halfway in your mouth. You manage to bite off most it before he gets it. “Hey, stop that! We’re going out to eat this.”

You furrow your brow in question. “But,” you cover your mouth as you chew, “we’re already here? Why leave?”

Shawn pops the rest of the maki roll he took from you into his mouth. “Because I wanna take you out.” He looks a little red, flushed. Was he asking you out? Like on a date? As if he read your mind he says, “Like on a date. Will you go out with me?”

You nod and close your laptop to put it on your pillows. “About time you asked me out,” you joke with him as you stand up to put on your hiking boots by the door. “You’ve only slept in my bed like a billion times.”

“Six times, thank you,” he says as he gets up and grabs the rest of the food off the desk.

“Hmm, counting the days huh?” you tease him and he rolls his eyes. You pull on your hat with the ear flaps and fur inside, stuff a pair of gloves in your pocket and gesture to the door. “Werewolves first.” He laughs and steps through your doorway with you close behind.

Shawn leads you to a small park by the elementary school a few blocks over. There’s no one around and you see a table with a blue scarf with a circular mandala design draped over it. He sets the food down and you take a seat. He sits opposite and pushes you the foam container with your name on it. “This is pretty,” you say tapping the fabric covered table.

“It’s mine. I have a couple like it, they’re really old. My grandma gave them to me,” Shawn says as he opens his food. Of course it’s an array of sushi and sauce cups. He laughs and says, “Try not to get food all over it.”

“Oh man, now I’m really going to have an accident since you’ve said something. Why not bring an old sheet or something?” You open your box to find your favorite, a massive helping of lo mein with extra shrimp and beef. This man was truly out for your heart at this point.

“I wanted it to look nice,” Shawn looks a little sheepish as he says this. He picks up a piece of what looks like a spicy tuna roll and puts the whole piece in his mouth.

“Shawn, you know you don’t have to impress me, right? I mean, look at me,” you wave your hand down over yourself in your red jacket, old skinny jeans, hiking boots and your hat with the ear flaps, hair beneath unbrushed and pulled back in a messy ponytail. If it were anyone else, you think you’d have probably changed into something better.

Shawn laughs and reaches across the table to tug at your hat ear flaps. “You look cute, like you always do. I just wanted our first date to be memorable.” You take a few bites of your food and he smiles big. “I got the right dish?”

“Mmhmm, how’d you know my order? Are you a psychic werewolf?” You grab the bag of maki rolls from in front of him and shake a few out onto your foam lid, popping open the chili sauce and dunking one before biting it.

“No, not psychic. The owner and I are pretty good friends and he said that him and his wife saw me walking you home the other day, when you left Myra’s on your birthday. So I guess they assumed we were dating and when I went to order, they asked if you wanted your usual? I just said yes and paid for the food.”

You let out a laugh and bite another maki roll. “I must go there too often. It really is my favorite place to eat.”

“Mine too. His wife makes killer sushi.” He holds up a piece between his chopsticks and offers it to you. “Try it. It’s the shrimp tempura roll, my favorite.”

You lean forward and take the piece into your mouth. It’s incredibly good, it’s sweet and spicy from the sauce on top and the shrimp is lightly fried inside of it. “Oh my god, that’s so good!” you exclaim, eyeing the rest of the pieces like it.

“You got a little something on your chin,” Shawn says, pointing at your chin. You try to lick it off but fail. He leans forward, reaches out, fingers under your chin so you don’t pull away, and wipes off a bit of the sweet and spicy sauce with his thumb. Before he pulls his hand away and before you really think about what you’re doing, you lick his thumb clean, eyes locked with his.

Shawn leans forward over the table and guides you forward so he can kiss you. It’s a sweet, soft kiss and he holds your chin gently as he does so. It sends a spark through you and you lift your hand up to rest on his face as he kisses you slowly. You lean up out of your seat to get closer and Shawn grins against your lips. He teases his tongue along your lip and you lick over the spot as he pulls away for a moment.

“You taste like fishy sushi,” you laugh softly.

“And you taste like noodles,” he retorts before kissing you again, this time biting your lip softly before pulling away completely to keep eating. “Don’t you know you should finish your dinner before asking for dessert like that?” he says, stuffing a piece of sushi in his mouth and laughing. You reach across the table and smack his shoulder playfully.

_____________________

Three days pass. Then four. Then five.

Shawn hasn’t come to see you since he walked you home after your date in the park. It went well, everything had been perfect. The two of you kissed again when he left you at your door and he promised to be by the next day. He didn’t show up and you texted him but he didn’t reply. You texted him again and still, nothing.

Day three brings the sick feeling in your stomach. The feeling like you’ve been punched and now it hurts and you want to vomit. The thought of him doing what Liam did to you hurts. It makes your stomach clench, twist, flip and flop. Thoughts of Taylor, his ex girlfriend, fill your mind. Maybe he went back to her since she was a werewolf. Definitely prettier than you. She could handle him, she could handle him for what he was. You start to think of how weak you are compared to a werewolf. How you shouldn’t even be mated to him. You throw up in your trash by the desk. The rest of the day you fight off the shakes and attempt to put the thoughts out of your head by immersing yourself in your school work. Shawn wasn’t Liam. Shawn wouldn’t do that. Shawn wouldn’t go back to Taylor, he was so cold toward her. It wasn’t going to happen.

Day four and you had sent him maybe a few dozen texts by then. The thought of him cheating was still prominent in your mind but now you were worried something bad may have happened. Although, you’re not sure what could harm him that badly. You decide if he doesn’t text back or show up by the next night, you would walk over to his place and talk to him, or his parents and find out what was going on.

Day five, today. It’s after seven at night, the sun is nearly set and you can see the huge old brick house on the Oak Grove estate ahead of you. There’s a light on in an upstairs window and both of the first floor windows are lit up. Someone is home for sure.

It’s cold and you’re shaking. Your thin jacket not enough to ward off the cold air seeping into your bones. Your stomach hurts, cramping, threatening to make you double over in pain with each step closer. Did you want to know what happened? What if Taylor was there? What if Shawn wasn’t who you thought he was? What if it was all a joke? Oh god….oh god here it comes you’re going to-

You’re squatted on the lawn, maybe ten feet from the front door, losing your dinner all over the leaves covering the ground. You’re crying, embarrassed you’ve puked on their lawn, upset you’ve let yourself get so worked up. You wipe your mouth with your sleeve and just stay there, staring at the sick on the leaves and you want to get up but your legs don’t seem to want to listen.

“Honey, are you alright?” Shawn’s mom, Karen, asks from the front door. “Honey…” she’s approaching you, steps hurried. She lays her hand on your back and asks, “Can you get up? Is your stomach alright?”

You nod pitifully. Suddenly your legs want to listen and you stand up. Her hand remains on your back as she assesses you. “I-I’m sorry. I can clean it up. I didn’t mean to…I don’t know what happened. I just-” you stumble over your words, brain scattered. Fresh tears start welling up in your eyes, falling down your cheeks. “Is Shawn home?”

“Yes. He’s not going to be able to come out though.” Karen looks worried as she says this which makes you fear something bad truly has happened. “It’s the full moon tonight, dear. Shawn is…he is having a hard time controlling himself right now, he-”

There’s a loud noise within the house and you and Karen both look to the open front door. There is shouting. A man’s voice. It’s Manny, Shawn’s father you’re sure. Karen grabs your arm and starts walking the two of you away from the house briskly. You’re tripping on your own feet, the leaves making it hard to keep up with her because they keep giving way under your feet when you stumble. “What’s going on? Why are we-” you turn to look back and there’s a very large wolf with golden eyes and rich dark brown almost black fur is standing on their front porch. “Is that Sha-”

“Run! Run now!” Karen screams at you and she starts running fast. Faster than you can keep up and you fall, her hand leaving your arm. She’s at your side in a second, pulling you up but it’s too late. “If he catches you I don’t know what will happ-”

As soon as you get to your feet, you’re knocked backwards. A flash of dark fur only a blur in your vision before the world is spinning as you hit the ground hard enough that your head bounces off the leaves and dead grass beneath. You can make out Karen backing away from you. Your vision clears and you’re met with dark fur tickling your nose. It hurts to breathe, the weight of the wolf on you is crushing your lungs into your body. It’s growling, the sounds reverberating through your body.

“Please, don’t please!” you’re crying, breathing hurts, you’re scared. He’s snarling, teeth at your collarbone. You grab handfuls of fur and pull hard. It does nothing, you feel his teeth sink into your shoulder and you scream. White hot pain shoots through your shoulder. It burns, feels like you’re completely on fire and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. You’re screaming, sobbing, hurting. It feels like you’re dying. You can feel your blood, warm, wet, pooling against the skin of your back, running down your chest. Your hand goes limp in his fur and your arm falls lifelessly to the side as the pain throbs throughout your whole chest. It’s only a matter of seconds before you black out but before you do you hear a loud thud and the weight on your chest is gone as you slip into darkness.

The room you wake up in smells like vanilla and cinnamon and something you can’t quite identify but it’s familiar. You know it but you can’t put your finger on it. The room is warm, quiet, a dim light from a bedside table illuminates the room in a soft yellow glow.

It’s only a matter of moments before your shoulder throbs, shooting pain down your arm. You look at it, you’re in a white shirt you weren’t wearing before and there’s gauze or something on your shoulder. Suddenly everything was coming back to you. The wolf tackling you, Karen yelling, not being able to breath. The pain. God, the pain. You try to move your hand but it just causes more pain. “Hello?” you call out, your voice hoarse and raspy from screaming you assume. How long had you been out? How were you alive?

There’s a door to your left and it opens, Karen pops her head in. “You’re awake,” she says as she comes in, leaving the door open and coming to your side. “How is your shoulder? Is the pain bad?”

You shake your head. It wasn’t unbearably bad, just uncomfortable, “It’s hurting but I can bear it.”

“I’ll get you something for it. Good news is, the wounds didn’t look too deep.” Karen turns to leave and you look at where she’s stopped halfway to the door. Beyond her, leaning against the door frame is Shawn.

“I’ll take care of it,” Shawn whispers and Karen moves past him, saying something like “are you sure?” and he nods as he just stares at you. There is a surge of joy that pulses through you like a shot of energy. He wasn’t with Taylor, he was there, with you, and you realized how much you had really missed him. That joy doesn’t last long, just long enough to act as a painkiller for a moment before you really look at Shawn, actually take in his appearance.

He looks like hell. His hair is messed up, wild, looks like it’s been through hurricane force winds. He looks tired, face sunken, not bright and cheery like usual. He’s shirtless, his arms are crossed but you can see they’re scratched up and his chest is bruised. You can’t help but stare, wondering for a moment why he was in such a way when he could heal himself. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t-,” his voice sounds strained like yours had and he steps into the room, and backs against the wall beside the door, his head in his hands.

It hits you. The wolf really was Shawn. He did this. “Shawn, what happened?” Your chest aches and it’s not from the shoulder wound. It hurts to think that he hurt you like this, it hurts to see him like this.

Shawn shakes his head and he’s crying, his face red as he looks up and walks closer. “I- god, babe..” he touches your wrist gingerly, as if he’s afraid to touch you. Like you might break into a thousand pieces right there in his hands. You start to cry, overwhelmed by it all. He drops to his knees beside the bed and slides his hand into yours, careful not to move it too much and cause your shoulder to hurt. “I’m sorry,” he says again, bringing his lips to your hand in his.

His hand gets hot in yours, that familiar burning sensation building in the tender skin of your palm. The pain in your shoulder lessens but only a little. His hand stops getting hot, returning to it’s normal warmth. “I’m too weak, I can’t heal you, can’t even heal myself,” he says quietly. He sounds broken. Everything about him is broken.

You reach over and thread your fingers through his hair. “I thought werewolves were in control during the full moon.”

“I was, before.”

“Before?”

“Before you. When I wasn’t mated I was fine. The need to make you mine drove me crazy, I blacked out and I don’t remember anything after I shifted. I woke up and you were on my dining room table, bleeding, and my mom was trying to save you.” Shawn chokes up, a sob racking his whole body and he presses his head to your hand joined with his. “I thought I killed you, I thought I- I wanted to die right then and there I was so sick with guilt.”

You’re crying, squeezing his hand. “But I didn’t die,” you say and he shakes his head, still against your hand. “Because you saved me, not your mom right?”

Shawn nods. He lets out another sob followed by a shuddering breath. “It took everything from me, I’m so tired, so drained. I sat there and begged, cried, pleaded with every deity I could even think of, just to give me enough strength to make you strong enough to survive.”

“I would have died if you hadn’t come to your senses.” The thought leaves you hollow. The fact you had come so close to death without truly realizing it was shocking.

“You would have never been in danger if it weren’t for me,” he says quietly.

You’re crying again, sadness and joy battling it out inside you. On one hand, you could have easily died and left everyone you knew in shock. On the other, you’re happy to be alive. Happy to see Shawn, happy to be there with him right now because even though he was the one that caused this, he was the one you should be angry, scared, upset with, you can’t bring yourself to be. You look down at his head, rested against your hand and you wiggle your fingers to get his attention and he looks up at you. “But I didn’t die,” you say and smile through your tears.

“No, you didn’t but I need you to know something.”

“What?”

Shawn stands up and lets go of your hand. He’s looking down as he speaks, voice low and trembling with every word, “You’re going to get very sick. Very, very sick and I’m sorry. You’re alive, you’re not bleeding out, but something worse is going to happen.”

Your stomach drops as he speaks. “What are you talking about? I’ll heal just fine I’m sure, Karen said the wounds weren’t too deep. As long as I keep it clean it shouldn’t get infec-”

“I’m not talking about an infection.”

“Then what are you talki-”

“I bit you. I’m an alpha and I bit you. You’re going to turn.” Shawn’s shaking again, his whole body trembling. He lets out a dry sob, tears no longer coming. “Your body is going to reject it, human bodies always fight the genetic transformation,” he looks at you and takes a deep breath. “It’ll kill you, it always does.”

“I won’t die,” you say numbly. His words not truly setting in, and you find yourself in denial. “I won’t.”

“Babe, you can’t stop it if your body starts to shut d-”

“You won’t let me die,” you say as you look up at him. He looks confused, his eyes are red and his face is swollen and puffy. “You won’t, right?”

“I-I don’t know if I’m strong enough to stop it.”

“I didn’t ask if you were strong enough. I asked if you would let me die.”

Shawn steps forward and leans down and kisses you. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“I promise I won’t let you die,” he says against your lips. He threads his fingers into your hair and kisses you harder, and you do, you trust him.

_____________________

You call your mom and let her know you’re going to be staying at your friend Ashley’s house for a few days because she is going through a rough patch with her husband. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve gone to comfort her for a few days so your mom buys the lie. Little did she know, Ashley was actually out of town for several weeks on a cruise in the Bahamas with her husband for their late honeymoon.

Shawn wakes you up in the middle of the night on the second night since the accident. He had taken to laying on the bed with you during the day and keeping his hand intertwined with yours while you slept because if you started to hurt, he could ease the pain for long enough to let you rest again. It’s just after 2am if the clock on the nightstand was right. You didn’t hurt, in fact you felt pretty good, no pain at all really, so you were confused as of why Shawn was waking you up.

“Babe,” he says softly from beside you on the bed. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah, you were squeezing my hand so hard it woke me up.”

“Sorry,” he says, sitting up and letting go of your hand. “It got cold, I was worried you were slipping away.”

You shake your head and sit up with him. “Did you get some rest?” you ask sleepily and he nods.

“Must have gotten enough sleep to restore almost all of my energy because…” he leans across you and flips on the bedside lamp, placing a kiss on your forehead on the way back. “My body has healed.” He holds his arms out and they look normal, no longer scratched and his chest isn’t bruised up either. “Which means I should be getting stronger so I can fix your shoulder.”

You rub your eyes and yawn big. “That’s good.”

“Can I look at it?” Shawn asks and reaches for your shirt hem to pull it off. You nod and he pulls your shirt up over your head and you’re completely exposed to him, your bra having been disposed off when Karen redressed you after the bleeding was under control. His gaze lingers for a moment on your breasts and he bites his lip. A blush creeps up your neck and into your cheeks.

“Shawn, my shoulder,” you say gently to remind him. His eyes snap up to yours and then he moves close, straddling your legs and sitting on your thighs so he can get a good look at the wound once he undresses it.

Shawn peels back the tape holding the pile of gauze against your skin. He’s careful not to let it stick to itself as he tugs the cotton pads from the blood dried against your skin. You can’t look over at it since he’s so close, so you just press your cheek to his hair. Shawn sets the bandage aside on the bed carefully and you feel his warm fingertips on your skin. You’re expecting it to sting like it usually did when you accidentally bumped the bandage. It didn’t though. Shawn’s fingertips were smoothing over the whole area and you weren’t hurting.

“You’re nearly healed babe,” he pulls back and looks at you with a big grin.

“Huh?” You crane your neck back to look at the afflicted area and there’s just a big loop of pink scars where his teeth punctured. “How? I noticed it didn’t hurt much before bed, and when I woke up just now.”

Shawn leans forward and kisses over the scars, they’re a little tender as he pushes his lips against you. “I must of had enough energy to heal myself and finish you up too while we were sleeping”

You lift your arm up and it doesn’t hurt. The pain is gone, replaced by a little bit of stiffness. You grin big and kiss his cheek as he gets your shirt ready to put back on. You push the shirt away and pull him back with you as you lay back down. “We can sleep like this,” you smile big and he doesn’t protest, only pulls the blankets over the two of you and remains pressed naked against you.

_____________________

By the third day you feel like you’re dying. You can’t move, your body hurts, you are burning up and all you can do is cry. It feels like you’ve been beaten with a bat, everywhere. You’re so hot, even with the AC on and a fan on in Shawn’s bedroom in the middle of fall, you feel like you’re in a sauna.

Every couple of minutes Shawn takes your temperature and then holds your hand until your body stops hurting. Karen brings in of ice packs every couple hours for you and Shawn keeps them on your forehead and chest. You try to sleep but you can’t, the aches wake you up or don’t let you sleep.

“Shawn, please, I can’t,” you say quietly. You’re so tired, so in pain and he can’t stave it off anymore, you’ve drained him. “Please I want it to stop.”

“I know, babe,” Shawn says, petting back your sweat soaked hair. “I’m sorry I did this to you. You don’t deserve it.”

“Shut up,” you try to swat at his hand but he ends up just holding it. “Stupid….stupid werewolf.”

Shawn smiles softly. “Yes, you’ve told me before. You hate me.”

“No…” you look up at him and your vision is swimming. You close your eyes and try to focus. “I don’t hate you. You’re just stupid.”

“I know. You should hate me though. I forced this on you.” Shawn’s hand gets hot in yours and he’s healing you again though he has no energy to. “We never got to even discuss this. I never would have bitten you, never, even if you wanted it.”

“Do you love me?” you ask softly, smiling at him and you’re finally starting to fall asleep, the ache in your bones edging off from his healing.

“Babe, we’re not talking about this right now.”

“Shawn, if I die I want to know if-”

“You aren’t going to die. We can talk about this later.”

You yawn and fall asleep for the first time that day.

_____________________

You don’t remember much of day four. There’s bits and pieces, you hear Shawn talking to someone now and then. He sits you up for water and some kind of medicine that tastes like licorice. You dream of swimming, drowning, and strong arms pull you out of the water. You dream of being on fire, burning up while you cry for help and Shawn comes and carries you out. There’s a constant stream of nightmares where you’re alone in the dark and something, a wolf, is hunting you and you hide and run so it won’t get you. It goes on like this for another day. Sleep, water, medicine, sleep, nightmares.

On the sixth day you wake up to Shawn carrying you outside. It’s freezing and it’s dark out. The air feels great on your superheated skin. It must be early morning or later in the evening. The way the birds are chirping you think it must be before dawn. Shawn’s shoes crunch on the frosted leaves as he carries you to an unknown destination.

“Where are we going?” you ask and your voice is but a whisper. “It’s cold.”

“I’m taking you to Myra,” Shawn says, looking down and kissing your forehead. “You’re almost done. I promise..”

The moment you are in Myra’s cabin you start sweating again. Shawn lays you on a couch in the living room and sits on the floor next to you. Myra comes over and she takes your hand. “Have you dreamed of the wolf yet?” she asks and you nod. “Has it caught you?”

You shake your head. It felt like days you’d been dreaming about the wolf hunting you, having a new dream of it each time you fell asleep, but you always managed to get away or hide well enough. You were getting tired though, in the dreams, and you were sure it would get you eventually. “Myra, should I let it get me?”

“No. You must hide, or run because the wolf will kill you both in the dream and in the real world. You cannot let it kill you no matter how tired you get.”

Shawn holds your hand and squeezes. “Babe, you have to tame it.”

You look at him, eyes heavy, vision blurry. You’re so tired. “But I’m tired, even in the dreams. How can I tame it?”

Myra kneels beside you and Shawn and puts a cup to your lips to drink from. “This is medicine, it makes you sleep deeper so you can dream more vividly. The wolf must be tamed tonight, your body can’t handle this fever anymore.”

Soon after drinking the medicine, your eyes get heavier and you fall asleep. You awake in the woods. You’re alone and it’s dark, there are no sounds around you. No crickets, no birds, nothing but silence. Then you hear it, a low growling sound behind you. Spinning around, you see a small reddish brown wolf pacing the perimeter of the circle of trees you’re standing in. You pick up a stick at your feet and hold it out, watching the wolf watch you.

“I won’t let you kill me,” you say, backing up as the wolf moves closer. The wolf lunges at you and you jump out of the way. “No!” you yell and you swing your stick at it. “No! You’re not taking me from Shawn!”

The wolf laughs. It laughs and you are staring at it, not seeing it it’s mouth open at all, but you can hear laughter. “Why do you care?” a voice says and the wolf is circling you, staring, as if it was talking to you. “He will be fine. He will move on with another girl, a werewolf.”

“No…no! He’s my mate!” you swing your stick and hit the wolf as it jumps at you.

“You’re a human! You’ll just make him miserable! Human’s can’t be werewolves mates!” The wolf snaps at you and gets your arm, white hot pain shoots up to your shoulder where Shawn bit you.

“Fuck you!” you cry out and lunge at the wolf. It jumps back and you hit the ground, face first into the leaves. You roll over and the wolf jumps on you. You bring your hands to it’s throat and keep its snapping jaws at bay. Your arm hurts, shoulder throbbing, it feels like the wound has reopened and your arm is shaking, grip faltering on the wolf.

Your hand slides in it’s fur and you are sure this is it. You’re going to lose this fight. Suddenly your arm feels hot, strong, and you grab it by the back of the neck, your strength returning and you somehow pull it off your chest and get the upper hand, rolling it over and sitting on it.

“I won’t die. Not like this, not now!” You use all your strength and keep the squirming wolf beneath you still. It’s kicking, claws cutting your legs and chest but you won’t let go. “Stop! Stop it!” you scream and surprisingly the wolf stops, going still under you, face pressed into the ground.

You fall back off the wolf and it gets up, circling a few times before coming close to you. It licks your arm where it had bitten you. The wound starts to heal. It backs up, turning as if it were heading to the trees before it turns around and runs at you. You don’t have time to move before it hits you, a solid weight slamming against your chest.

You wake up, sitting bolt upright and look around. You’re in Myra’s living room, Shawn is on his knees beside you. “What…” you mumble as you look at your arm where the bite had been. “I think I did it?” You look at Shawn and a huge grin spreads across his face.

“Your eyes babe, god they’re beautiful,” Shawn takes your head in his hands and he’s just staring at you. “They’re so golden,” he says and kisses you hard, lips working against yours desperately.

The moment he touches you, you feel alive. It feels like you’re buzzing, your heart is racing and you can’t get enough of him. You grab his forearms and in one fluid motion, you’re crawling off the couch and landing on him, your legs tangled with his, mouth finding his again, desperate to taste him. That drive Shawn talked about, the want and need for you, you think you finally understand.

_____________________

The moment Shawn carries you into his bedroom is the moment you know you have fallen in love. There on the bed is the remains of the area where he held your hand and kept you alive day after day. There’s a couple of empty water bottles on the floor, a thawed ice pack, and some towels. The last five days had been hell, but here you were, in Shawn’s arms, standing at the foot of the bed on day six. Shawn stayed at your side for every minute, only leaving you to use the bathroom or shower. You had made it. You survived.

“Shawn,” you smile at him and he sets you on the bed. “Thank you.”

“No, babe. Thank you. You were the one who was strong enough to survive.”

You tug Shawn down and he catches himself, leaning over you as you kiss him. “I know I’m weak still, but I want you so bad right now.”

Shawn grins and breaks the kiss to nose at your jaw. “I know the feeling,” he says and grabs your hips to push you up the bed more. He kisses his way down your chest, your stomach, and gets on his knees to kiss your growing arousal. “Babe, god, you…,” he tugs your loose pants over your ass and down your legs so he can kiss up your bare thighs. “So sweet,” he kisses and kisses until he’s hovering his mouth between your legs, breath hot. Your hands go to his hair and you tug, pulling his mouth away from you and you close your legs as best you can. He growls and grabs your thighs a little roughly, pushing you open for him before he is pressing his face back down and licking you through your panties.

His mouth is hot and spreads fire through your veins with each pass of his tongue over your clit. You grind yourself up against his mouth and he licks, sucks, nibbles at you hungrily. This was nothing like Liam. Liam couldn’t eat you out if his life depended on it. After a few agonizing minutes of white hot pleasure, hair pulling, loud moaning and some name calling, you’re close to coming. Shawn has two fingers in you, working you open while he worries your clit between his lips. It’s not long after Shawn starts curling his middle finger on his withdrawals that you’re tossing your head and crying to come. 

You lay on the bed, stomach muscles tired and aching from your orgasm. Shawn left the room after peppering your thighs with gentle kisses and praising you for being “So good for me, babe.” The sky outside is orange tinted, it’s morning, the sun rising slowly and you are smiling because nothing had ever felt that good before. Shawn was something else. You didn’t know if it was because you’re a werewolf now, or because Shawn is just that good, but you feel satisfied beyond belief. After a minute or two, you sit up to get covered up and Shawn walks back into the room, kicking the door closed gently behind him.

“Going somewhere?” he asks and looks you over where you’re sitting in the middle of the bed, pulling your borrowed sweatpants on over your feet.

“No,” you laugh and gesture to your half nakedness. “Just don’t want to be half naked anymore.”

Shawn crosses the room in a few quick strides and tosses your sweatpants aside. He slides his hands under your shirt and tickles your ribs a little as he get your shirt off over your head. “Now you’re not half naked.”

You flush bright red. Shawn’s eyes were raking over you, getting more golden by the second. His attention was not unwanted. But he was acting like you’d never seen before. He was so lust driven, so hot, so hungry for you. You can’t help but wonder how he held this back before. “Maybe I should rest for the day?”

Shawn pushes you back with one hand and your head bounces off the mattress as it connects. He crawls over you and kisses across your chest, licking and sucking every bit of skin he can get his mouth on. He licks a long hot wet stripe up from your collarbone to just past the hollow of your throat. “Maybe,” he licks the tender skin where your neck and jaw meet, “maybe you could rest while I make you mine.”

You tangle your hand into his hair and just run your hand through the bulk of the top of his hair. It’s so soft, so thick, so perfect between your fingers. “Don’t think I’d get much rest.”

Shawn nips and sucks a spot just behind your earlobe. “Promise I’ll be gentle.”

“What exactly are you going to do?” you question, tilting your head back instinctively for him.

“Well,” he starts before returning his mouth to your collarbone. “I wanna taste every inch of you.” He runs his hand up your side and settles it on your hip, thumb rubbing circles over your skin. “I wanna touch every inch of you.”

“Shawnnnnn,” you groan and he just smiles against your skin. “Isn’t there time later?” You really wouldn’t mind his attention. It sounded amazing. But you still needed rest, you only just started feeling better. It was truly an internal struggle.

“I really can’t stop,” Shawn says with a smirk. He moves lower and takes your nipple into his mouth. You jerk, and he holds you down with one hand splayed out on your stomach, pressing down gently to keep you still for him. “Babe, do you know what you are?”

“A werewolf?” you ask and he laughs softly, hand on your stomach now rubbing up and down.

“Mmm, yes, but do you know what kind?” He switches to your other nipple, biting and licking it while you squirm.

“A new one?”

Shawn laughs louder this time, resting his forehead on your chest for a moment. “No, babe. You’re an omega. A sweet,” he kiss between your breasts, moving himself down off of you, “sweet,” he kisses lower, nipping close to your navel, “delicious little omega.” He pushes your leg out a little and slides two fingers into you with no notice. You arch your back and gasp and he rubs his thumb over your clit, slowly massaging two fingers in and out of you. “And you’re all mine,” he says with a grin and you close your eyes, pleasure building quick in your lower stomach. It takes only a few more strokes and you’re coming, body jerking and spasming around his fingers. You absolutely were his. All his.

_____________________

After a night of rest and a morning of breakfast followed by lazy sex with Shawn, you feel loads better, the wolf in you healing you the way it should. You’re nearly home, walking out of the woods when you catch sight of wood boarding up the sliding glass door to your bedroom. Its unsettling as you approach the back of your house and you’re wondering if everyone and everything was okay inside. You and Shawn walk around to the front door and you walk in the house, announcing you’re home. Nobody is in the living room and you walk through into the kitchen to find your mom standing at the kitchen sink, peeling some potatoes.

“Hey! You’re home! We’ve been calling you since yesterday. Did your phone die? It’s been days!” your mom drops her potatoes and pulls you into a hug. “Oh…um, who is this?” she points at where Shawn is standing in the door frame, smiling politely.

“Yeah, my phone died. Sorry, I should have called anyways. I got caught up.” You reach for Shawn and he grabs your outstretched hand. “This is Shawn, we went to school together,” your mom doesn’t seem to recognize him, “…Manny Mendes’ son?”

“Oh! Yes! Wow, you’ve gotten tall,” your mom laughs. “I’m Grace,” she holds her hand out and Shawn shakes it, introducing himself properly. “So, were you really at Ashley’s house?” You shake your head and your mom sighs softly. “You are twenty years old, you’re allowed to make your own decisions. I’m not angry you were with Shawn, just a little annoyed you lied.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Um, by the way, what happened to my door downstairs?”

Grace sighs and leans against the sink. “The day after you called to say you were going to stay at Ashley’s, someone broke in. We didn’t see any evidence that anyone came into the house or stole anything. Your dad boarded it up and we’re waiting for the glass company to come out and replace the door.”

“What?!” you shout and take off for your bedroom. Shawn follows close behind, tugging you away from your bedroom door as you stomp toward it. “Shawn, let go of me!”

“No,” he says firmly, arms wrapped around your middle. “I want to go in first.”

“Why?” you fuss against his hold and he mutters for you to stop, lips against your ear, the light stubble from not shaving since you got sick scratches your earlobe. “Shawn, why?”

“I want to go in and see if I can tell who it was.”

“How are you going t-”

Shawn steps around you and taps his nose. “I know your scent. If anyone else was in there, I’ll know.” You’re skeptical of him as he opens the door and walks into your room. You step in behind him and it’s cold, the boarded up glass door doing little to keep the crisp air out. Shawn looks around, casually touching your lotions and perfume on your dresser. He stills as he reaches your bed, body visibly tensing up. He turns his head and looks at you. “What would Liam want from you?”

“Liam?” you ask, confused. “I don’t know? Why? Was it him?”

Shawn grips the pajamas on your bed and tosses them at the boarded door. “That piece of shit was in here. I don’t know what he wanted, what he took, but he was here.”

You cross your arms over your chest and look around for anything missing. A sick feeling works its way into your stomach. Liam had come back for something, or maybe you. You try to think of anything Liam ever bought you, and you start checking your dresser for a bracelet he got you for Valentine’s Day. It’s still on the little dish where you kept it. You mentally note to sell it later. Your laptop is on the bed, battery drained, but still there. You check your shoes and the boots he got you were still there. There wasn’t anything out of place as far as you could see.

“Babe,” Shawn says, tone low and threatening. “Don’t get on your bed.”

“W-what?” you step back from your bed and look it over. It didn’t look messed up any more than usual, but there was something on your pillowcase. Something that looked like dried snot. You reach for it and tug the pillow closer by the corner. You look at the blankets as you do so and you realize what it is. Liam hadn’t taken anything from you. Because he didn’t want anything. He had come for you.

“Is this…dried come?” you look to Shawn and he is burning up, eyes golden, body shaking.

“I’ll kill him.”

“Shawn! He’s just an asshole, he is probably just upset because I called him out on his bull-”

Shawn grabs your hips and tugs you against him. “No. He fucking came in here and he wanted you. He broke into your room and god only knows what he was going to do to you. This,” he nods at the bed, “gives me a fucking idea that his intentions were not to talk.”

You’re shaking. Nerves getting the best of you. The reality of the situation sinking in. The thought of Liam coming into your room and doing this. The violation of your privacy. The things that could have happened. You wrap your arms around Shawn and he hugs you tightly, hand in your hair, breathing heavy. “What if he comes back?” you ask, voice muffled by Shawn’s chest.

“He won’t come back.”

You look up at Shawn and he’s staring at the bed. “How can you be sure?”

“Because I’m going to make sure he doesn’t.”

_____________________

Everything hits the fan when you walk upstairs with Shawn and your dad is home. He takes one look and he knows exactly who Shawn is. What Shawn is. His face turns a little red, and you know he’s ready to blow up. This wasn’t exactly how you wanted to introduce Shawn to him, but here you were.

“So, are you the one that broke into my daughter’s room?” your dad, Alan, asks with his arms folded. He tilts his head a little and you know he’s going to challenge Shawn.

“Sir,” Shawn starts with an oh so sweet smile, “I wouldn’t need to break into your daughters room.”

That’s it. That does it. You can see something in your dad snap. Why did Shawn have to be like this right now? He was already heated from the fact that Liam had been in your room and done what he did. Why did your dad have to open with such an accusatory question? You groan, wishing Shawn could have just answered with a simple, “No.”

“Exactly what are you implying?” Alan asks, stepping forward toward you and Shawn. Bad choice dad. Bad choice.

Shawn steps in front of you and straightens his back. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. “I wasn’t implying anything. Simply stating a fact.” Shawn crosses his arms and looks your dad up and down. Properly sizing him up as an opponent. “I know who did break in though.”

Alan looks Shawn over, squaring him up the same way Shawn was. He fell short by about four inches and several pounds of muscle. There was no way your dad would ever be able to take Shawn on. “And who do you think it was, Sherlock?”

“I know it was her piece of shit ex boyfriend. Liam.”

“Ex?” Alan asks with raised eyebrows, looking at you. “So the two of you are a thing now?” He looks to Shawn with a disgusted face. “You moved in pretty quick then, considering Liam and my daughter were still together on her birthday not to long ago.”

“Dad, Shawn and I were already friends,” not exactly a lie but not a whole truth “and then things changed. We found out we’re mates so-”

Alan holds his hand up and shakes his head. “Excuse me young lady? Mates? Werewolves don’t mate with humans. Now, it’s bad enough you’re dating him, or whatever this is, but mates?”

“Dad, I’m not joking,” you say and try to step out from behind Shawn but he won’t let you. “Myra sent for me on my birthday and said she had a vision that-”

“A vision!? You believe that old woman? Honey, don’t feel like you have to do anything just because someone says they saw it in a dream. If you don’t want to be with Shawn-”

“Alan. Let your daughter speak,” Shawn growls, yes, literally growls this out. He’s radiating heat, his eyes are bright golden amber and all you can do is lay your hand on his back to provide some sense of comfort and grounding lest he snap and attack your dad and his big mouth. Alan takes another step forward, starting in on how Shawn better watch his tone, that this is his house and he will not be ordered around by the likes of him. You can feel Shawn losing his temper. It’s like fire on your fingertips where your hand rests on Shawn’s back, the way he was feeling was unmistakable, it was murderous.

“Shawn,” you say softly just as your dad stops speaking. “Shawn, please. This is not the way to do this.” Your dad watches you as you carefully step around Shawn and place your hand on his chest, pushing him slightly and he walks back against the door to the basement. “Please don’t lose your temper over this.”

Shawn averts his gaze to you and you can see he’s pleading with you. It’s all right there on his face. He’s begging you to let him accept the challenge your dad was posing. You shake your head a little. He looks back and down at you again. Silently asking to at least rough your dad up a little. You shake your head again. Shawn slides his hand into your hair and leans down to kiss you hard, teeth clacking against yours. He’s biting you lip, licking into your mouth. It’s a rough, frustrated, annoyed, angry, possessive kiss. You lay your hand on his face and pull back as your dad clears his throat.

You turn around and see that your mom has joined your dad where he’s stood across the kitchen. “Dad, what’s happened has happened. Shawn and I are mates. I-” you stop because you’re not really sure how to phrase it to them that you’ve been turned. “I’ve accepted this, completely.”

“Dear, human’s can’t mate with werewolves. They just don’t reproduce. You’ll never have kids an-”

You cut your mom off as you say, “I’m not human.”

Alan looks like he saw a ghost. Grace looks like she has misheard you. It’s a clusterfuck of babbling as they both try to speak at once. Shawn’s arm slips around your waist and you lean back against him. Finally your mom gets a full sentence out. “I’m sorry, how is that?”

“I bit her. I’m an alpha like my father.”

“You WHAT?!” Alan starts for us and you pull away from Shawn to push him back, hand on his chest, he tumbles backward and you retract your hand quickly. You didn’t know you had that kind of strength. You only wanted him to stop before Shawn couldn’t lay his hands on him.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay dad?!” you stare at your dad laying sprawled out on the tiled floor. He sits up and rubs his head gingerly as your mom bends down to help him up. “I-I didn’t know that would happen.”

Alan sighs heavily. “I’m fine. Just a little surprised.”

“Honey, if Shawn is what you want, and if you’re a werewolf, then we’re just going to have to adjust. Right, Alan?” Grace says, rubbing his back. “There is nothing that can be done now. We can’t make you human again. We can’t take Shawn away from you, you aren’t a child with a toy.” She looks pointedly at Alan and he nods in solemn agreement.

“I’d like to take her home with me,” Shawn says quietly. “I’m afraid Liam may be watching your house and he might try to break in again.”

“Nothing was stolen?” Alan asks, looking at you for confirmation.

You nod. “That’s right. He didn’t come to take anything back. He came for me, we think. There was…dried…semen on my bed.”

“That little prick came into my fucking house and rubbed one out on your bed?!” Alan shouts, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He grips the countertop he’s leaned against and you think the wood trim on the side might pop off. “If that little fuck ever shows his face around here again I’ll-”

Shawn pulls you close to him. “I’ll take care of it. A wolf knows how to clean up it’s mess far better than a human.”

Grace’s eyes widen at this casual talk of a possible murder. “Shawn I know you care for our daughter but-”

“I’ll do what I have to. I will keep her safe no matter the cost.” Shawn kisses your head and you flush bright red. Your parents just nod, knowing that a werewolf’s word to his mate was a guarantee. It would be hard but they were going to have to let you go. You weren’t their innocent little girl anymore.

The two of you head back downstairs after a while and Shawn kisses under your jaw from behind you when you walk into your room. He pulls you against his chest and keeps kissing all along your neck. “Get some clothes, anything you need. I’ll see if we can use the guest house on the estate for a while.” He pushes you away playfully and you start grabbing some clothes and shoving them into your old backpack. “Don’t forget your homework. I’m sure you’re behind.”

“Yeah, I am. Also, sorry about my dad. I didn’t want it to go down like that.”

Shawn shrugs. “I didn’t kill him, so that’s a start.”

“Did you really mean what you said? You think Liam is watching the place?” You wind up your laptop charger and shove it in your bag. Shawn nods and you feel an unsettling sick in your stomach.

When you look back to question Shawn as to why he thought that, he grabs a pair of black lace panties out of your top dresser drawer and dangles them off one finger. “Pack these,” he says, voice low and commanding. “And these,” he grabs your pink and white/gold pairs. You flush and take them out of his hands to stuff in the outer pocket of your backpack.

“I’m almost ready to go,” you say and the last thing you grab is a pair of pajamas out of your laundry basket and Shawn wraps his arms around you, pulling you away. “Won’t need pajamas baby,” he kisses your neck and bites your earlobe. “I’ll make sure you’re plenty warm every night.”

_____________________

The next three weeks come and go so quick you barely remember them. You’re engrossed in catching up on your school work while Shawn goes over everything that’s going to be different since you’re a werewolf now. He says that because you’re an omega via the bite you’ll never have to worry about shifting because your body isn’t made for it the way his is. You won’t have to worry about your period anymore, but you will have to worry about heats. He says you’ll be expected to attend any pack events with him, and to show respect to the elders but you did that already. The two of you stay in the guest house, a small two bedroom cottage on the far edge of the Oak Grove estate. His parents agreeing that the two of you needed some privacy while you adjusted to being a werewolf.

It’s early on a Sunday evening when you start to feel sick to your stomach all of a sudden. Shawn had gone out to help his uncle with some furniture deliveries and you aren’t expecting him back any time soon. You lay your laptop on the pillows and lean back, head resting against the headboard of the large king size bed. The nausea lasts for maybe ten minutes, coming in waves that are so strong you think you might vomit if you moved an inch. Then you start to sweat. You’re freezing cold but the sweat is just rolling off your forehead and into your eyes. It’s all you can do just pull the blankets over you and not throw up.

Dizziness sets in after a while, your head swimming and everything becoming slightly blurry. You couldn’t even get up and cross the room to get your phone off the charger to call or text Shawn. You end up falling asleep, sticky, damp and miserable.

You wake up with a start, a hand on your face and you take a minute to focus on the person standing over you. It’s Myra. “Myra? Where’s Shawn?” your voice sounds hoarse like you had been screaming. Had you been screaming in your sleep? “I need Shawn.”

Myra pets your sweat soaked hair back and puts a rag on your head. “I’ve called him already. Do you know what is happening, dear?”

You shake your head. Your whole body hurts, aches all the way to the bones. It’s almost as bad as when you were turning and you think for a second maybe you hadn’t turned completely and this was phase two but just delayed somehow.

“You’re going into your first heat,” Myra says with a consoling smile. “Shawn will…take care of you…as soon as he’s here. I’ll make you some tea to help ease the aching in the meantime.”

“How did you know I was here?”

Myra stands to go to the door and says, “You were screaming, moaning, begging for Shawn. Any werewolf with ears could have heard you for a mile.”

You wish you had the gumption to feel embarrassed but you don’t.

The front door of the house slams shut, Myra jump a bit and you groan. You shift your legs a little to get comfortable and there is a deep ache between them. “Shaaawwwnnnnn,” you moan, knowing it was him that entered the house. You could smell him, you nose filled with his spicy rich vanilla-y smell that just screamed Shawn. You watch the door, waiting for him to come in.

Myra goes out as Shawn pushes his way in, murmuring a quick apology to her. “Babe,” he says, out of breath as if he’d been running. “Oh babe,” he leans down, brushing hair off your forehead and rubbing his hand up your leg. “I didn’t think you’d go into heat so soon.”

“I need you,” you mutter, tossing your head back and forth. Gods did you need him. His hand felt so good on your leg you thought you might cry. “Please, Shawn, please.”

Shawn stands up and pulls the blankets off of you. He makes quick work of your sleep pants, panties and shirt. You’re soaked, ready for him, ready to have him all over you because he felt so good. He tosses his shirt aside and gets his jeans and boxers off before he crawls over you and presses his forehead to yours. His eyes are dilated and bright gold, his breathing is uneven and heavy. You wrap your arms around his neck, pleading silently with him. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you,” he says, voice lower than usual and it makes your stomach tighten up.

You nod and he kisses down your jaw, your neck, mouth hovering over where he bit you. He rubs between your legs and you’re wet, ready, he slides one finger into you with ease. He adds another and you squirm, grinding your hips down to get more from him. It wasn’t enough, you needed more. Shawn licks over your bite scar and pulls his hand away from you so he can position himself against you. You can feel him, cock pressed against you, one movement away from giving you what desperately wanted.

“Shawn,” you mutter and he stills. “Please.”

Shawn braces himself on both arms, presses his face into your neck and arches his hips forward so he can slide into you. There’s little resistance on your part and you feel yourself stretch easily around him. You tilt your head back and let out a long low moan as he fills you up, inching in slowly until he bottoms out. He bites down on your shoulder and you grab his back, dragging your nails against his skin, leaving red marks across his shoulder blades. He pulls back, rolling his hips gently, pulling back just enough, not all the way, before sliding back in.

You grab his hair and bring his face away from your neck. “I love you,” you whisper and he kisses you, eyes locked with yours as he continues to rock against you. It feels amazing and you can’t ever remember being fucked like this. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was Shawn. Maybe you just never had really good sex before, but this was something else.

Shawn lays down against you, smothering you for a second as he rolls the two of you so he’s on the bottom. You shift yourself, not letting him slip out of you, so that you’re sitting on him. He holds your hips and you rest your hands on his chest. You rock your hips against him and lean forward so you can really ride him and he groans loudly. “Fuck….fuck babe,” he slides a hand up your chest and kneads your breast roughly. The motion makes you weak, body over sensitive from the heat, and your arms give out so you’re laying on his chest. He braces his feet on the bed and fucks up into you slowly.

He slides one hand into your hair and one between your bodies to rub your clit. You squirm and buck against him, his finger working furiously against you and you feel yourself starting to tense up. He pulls his hand away and rolls you under him once more. He kneels between your legs and pushes your legs up, fucking into you rougher now, hips snapping desperately against you. You grab the sheets, breath picking up, head swimming and you feel yourself coming and he doesn’t stop. He fucks you right through your orgasm, your mind going blank as you see stars, eyes squeezed shut and a loud moan falling from your lips. It’s only a second after you feel yourself starting to come down that Shawn leans forward and holds your hip, fingers digging into your skin. He’s coming hard, growling low in his chest, head bowed against you. You can see his hair is soaked with sweat and you grab a handful of it to bring him into a kiss.

The two of you lay in the messy bed, tangled together for a while before you start to feel the nausea and feverish sweat start to creepy across your chest and forehead once more. Shawn is ready to go, fucking you three more times until you can’t take anymore and you’re begging for the heat to stop. You’re both exhausted by the end of it. The last time being the slowest with Shawn spooned up behind you and holding your leg up slightly so he could go in deep. Every time felt amazing, no matter how exhausted you were.

Finally your heat ended. The feverish sweats stopped completely and the waves of nausea and dizziness disappear. You and Shawn start to fall asleep with the sheets tangled around your feet, pressed against each other and Shawn mumbles an, “I love you” into your shoulder.

_____________________

It’s a friday night, a few days after your first heat and you’re back home for a few days while Shawn’s parents renovate the guest house for the two of you to live in more permanently. You’re trying on a dress Karen brought over for you and Shawn’s announcement dinner tomorrow. It’s a knee length A line black dress with lace quarter sleeves and it fits near perfectly. The back is a little loose but you’re going to wear a shrug over it anyways because it was so cold out. You dig through your shoes in your closet, looking for the right ones to wear. Boots or flats? Heels or flats? Probably flats. You grab the shiny black pair and pull them out as a knock comes from your sliding glass door. Thinking it must be Shawn, you pull the curtain and then slide the blinds over. It’s not Shawn. It’s Liam.

Your heart drops into your stomach. You’re stunned silent, nerves getting the best of you and you start to shake. Liam just smiles as if he was seeing an old friend. It makes bile rise in your throat.

“Gonna let me in, babe?” he asks and you glance down to make sure the lock is clicked over and the security bar in the bottom of the track is in place. They’re both in a secure position. You back away and he puts his hand on the new glass door. “I just want to talk.” What a lie that was.

You look around your room, trying to remember where you laid your phone down. Liam slams his fist on the door and your heart races, pounding in your ears. Tears start falling and your chest feels tight. Your phone is on the desk and you grab it, fingers fumbling to get the call screen open to call Shawn. You were home alone and Liam made no indication that he was going to leave any time soon. He was yelling, banging on the door, trying to open it and calling you names.

“Yeah baby?” Shawn answers after two rings and you can’t talk you’re shaking so bad. “What’s going on? Baby? What’s that noise?” He can hear Liam yelling and pound on the door.

“L-Liam,” you choke out and you hear Shawn’s phone hit the ground or something. There’s silence from his end and you back up into your bedroom door. You reach back and turn the handle, eyes on Liam as he wraps his hand in his jacket, getting read to break the glass again. The guy had fucking snapped or something. This was not the Liam you knew.

You run up the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a knife. You grab the biggest one in the holder and head for the bathroom to hide. The sound of glass shattering in the basement comes sooner than you thought it would making you change course from the bathroom back to the kitchen to block the downstairs door before Liam could come up. You push a chair from the breakfast nook up under the handle of the basement door to at least delay him.

There is pounding on your front door and you jump and nearly puke because you’re so on edge. “Babe, it’s me! It’s Shawn!” You drop the knife and run for the front door, wrenching it open just to be enveloped in Shawn’s arms instantly. “I shouldn’t have left you, I should have stayed.” He kisses your head, wiping your cheeks with his thumbs and muttering, asking if you were hurt. You tell him no, but Liam was in the basement and he had gotten in. As if on cue, the basement door handle rattles viciously and then there is slamming. Liam breaks through, sending the chair across the tiled floor. You can see him from the entryway where you’re stood with Shawn but he hasn’t seen you yet.

“I’m going to kill him,” Shawn growls and pulls away from you, stalking across the living room and into the kitchen. You hear a loud “Who the fuck are you?” and then a crash followed by low growling from Shawn. You hurry to the kitchen doorway and see Liam grasping the counter, mouth bloody. The dishes set to dry on the counter behind him are all over the floor and in the sink from his impact. Shawn has a bloody lip as well, Liam must have swung first and caught him off guard.

“Little bitch, you think you can sick your little werewolf fuck boy on me?” Liam sneers and you cross your arms, shaking quelled slightly now that Shawn was there.You knew that no matter what Liam did, he couldn’t hurt you. Shawn would never let him.

Shawn flexes his hand and stares Liam down, “You don’t get to talk to her.”

Liam laughs mockingly and says, “I’ll talk to her all I want. What are you? Her fucking owner?”

Shawn steps forward, pulling his arm back and punching Liam in the jaw. There’s no time for him to retaliate as Shawn wraps his hand around his throat. “I’m her mate, asshole.” Liam lets out a sickening gurgle and grasps at Shawn’s arm for leverage. Shawn doesn’t let up, instead he forces him back into the counter, making Liam’s head dent the cabinet door above it. “Breaking into her house the first time was strike one,” he slams Liam’s head back and he goes limp, arms no longer struggling against Shawn’s grip. “You don’t get a strike two.”

You close your eyes and swallow thickly. You couldn’t watch Shawn like this. It was too much, too violent. “Shawn…” you whisper and he glances over at you, hand still around Liam’s throat. “Don’t kill him. It’ll be too much of a mess.”

Shawn growls and you know he won’t go against your wishes, no matter how badly he wanted to snap Liam’s neck and throw him aside like the piece of trash he was. He drops Liam and you open your eyes as he collapses to the floor, blood pooling slowly on the tile from the back of his head where it hit the cabinets. There’s a siren outside and you know your neighbor must have called the cops when your sliding door was broken in.

Shawn crosses the kitchen, wiping his hand on his jeans as he went. He cups your face and leans down to kiss you. “I don’t want him to come back for you, please just let me finish this. I’ll say it was self defense, it’s not entirely a lie.”

“No, Shawn,” you whisper as you wrap your arms around him. “I won’t let you kill him and have that on your conscience. I can’t have it on mine either.”

“In here,” a voice says and you look past Shawn too see Officer Jensen walking through your living room. He was a friend of your father’s, and you had known him for many years. “Are you two alright?”

“Yes, sir,” Shawn says with his arm around you, holding you close to him.

Officer Jensen takes a look at Liam and calls for an ambulance. The rest of the night is a blur of questions and paramedics and officers tromping through your house. You and Shawn sit on the sofa as they wheel Liam out and you holds Shawn’s hand tightly. Shawn pulls your hand up and kisses it, saying softly, “We should probably clean up.” You’re trying not to cry, trying not freak out because this was going to be a lot to explain to your parents but you would manage because you didn’t have to do it alone. You’d never be alone again. Not with Shawn by your side.

_____________________

The announcement ceremony for you and Shawn is huge. It’s a whole town function held at the city hall and you had no idea it was going to be such a big deal, but then again it wasn’t every day that the town alpha’s son was being announced as mated.

You and Shawn had gotten ready together and he could hardly keep his hands off of you. You’d swear he had never seen you naked before or something. By the time you were ready he was dressed in his nicest deep red button down and slacks and you opted for a second dress that Karen brought for you to try on. It fit far better than the black one had and it was longer, a light blush color with short sleeves. An hour later and you were on your way to the ceremony.

Shawn glances over at you in the car as you head toward the city hall. He’s smiling as he takes your hand and kisses your knuckles. “You look like a bride y'know? That dress is stunning.”

“Really? Even though it’s not white?”

“Mmhmm. I love it. Too bad this isn’t our wedding.”

You smile out the window, wondering if there was really a difference in being mated and married. As far as you can tell there isn’t. “What if it was both? I mean, there’s not a huge difference in being mates and being married right?”

“Well from a wolf standpoint there is. Being mates is deeper than just signing some papers and being legally wed.”

He’s right. It is a deeper level of commitment than just some signed papers and legal garbage. Marriage is nice and all but the option of divorce is always there. Falling out of love is always a possibility. When you’re mated there isn’t that option. Mates are tied to each other through thick and thin. It’s a connection so deep it’s in your existential make up and you can’t run away from it.

You look over as him as he turns the wheel with one hand, refusing to let go of your hand. He pulls into the parking lot at the back of the city hall and puts the Jeep into park before he finally let’s go of you. “For my parents, for future legal reasons, we should get married today as well,” you suggest and watch him closely for a reaction.

He looks over, eyebrows raised. “I know Dad is able to officiate that as well. But are you sure? You don’t want a big wedding with all the bells and whistles?”

“Nah, I was never one to want all that attention. This is enough.” You lean over and thread your fingers into his hair, turning him to look at you. “Are you nervous? You seem kind of out of it.”

“I’m incredibly nervous,” he smiles and lets out a half laugh. “I don’t know why. I guess I just didn’t think I’d ever be here doing this y'know.”

“Me neither, but we’re here and we’ve been through much worse and far more nerve wracking things together.”

Shawn leans in and presses his lips to yours sweetly. “You’re right. Let’s get this over with.”

“Mmmhmm. Everyone is waiting.”

_____________________

One Month Later…

You start getting sick almost every morning for a week and Shawn becomes concerned. He takes off work to stay home with you while you do your online classes. Nausea hits you in waves throughout the days but you insist it’s just a stomach bug, that you would be better in a few more days.

A few more days pass and you aren’t any better, in fact it’s almost worse. Shawn takes you to the doctor, insisting that no stomach bug should last that long. The two of you sit in the exam room after the nurse had you pee in a cup and then took blood. You’re feeling lightheaded and dizzy, really out of sorts. Everything feels weird and swimmy, like you’ve just gotten off a rollercoaster and you need to puke. Shawn holds your hand, but he isn’t able to heal you. It’s strange, a wolf being so sick. You can’t help but wonder if it was a side effect of your transformation.

“Mrs. Mendes, how are you today?” the doctor looks at the sheet and then to you as he walks into the room.

It was strange hearing yourself called that. Only a month since the wedding and announcement ceremony and it was still incredibly fresh. You can’t help but smile though you feel horrible. “I’m not so great doctor,” you shake your head, putting your hand on your stomach. “I’ve been sick for over a week now with bouts of dizziness and exhaustion.”

“Mmhmm,” the doctor hums as he looks over your sheet. “Well, you’re not sick, not technically,” he chuckles softly. “You’re pregnant.”

Shawn looks like he’s going to faint. He goes paler than you’d ever seen him before. He steps away from you at the exam table and takes a seat in the guest chair in the small room. “You’re sure? I mean, the test couldn’t be a false positive?”

“Not likely. We tested your urine sample against multiple screenings and your symptoms are synonymous with first time early stage pregnancy. I can prescribe you something for the nausea if you like and recommend a prenatal vitamin.”

“Yes, please.” You look over at Shawn where he’s sitting with his head in his hands, silent during this entire interaction. “Could I have a moment alone with Shawn before we continue?” The doctor says of course and excuses himself to go write your prescription. “Shawn, are you alright?”

Shawn covers his mouth and looks up at you, tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a dad,” he says, voice muffled by his hand. He drops his hand and lets out a half laugh half sob. He stands and pulls you into a hug, almost pulling you off the exam table. “This is the best day of my life.”

You wrap your arms around him and hold him tight. “I was worried you were freaking out over there.”

“I was,” he laughs, “because there’s a little baby inside you right now and it’s all ours!” He squats down and pushes his face into your stomach. “You’re all ours little cutie!”

You laugh loudly and watch as the doctor comes back in to see Shawn nuzzling your stomach. He smiles and talks to you and Shawn about some anti nausea medication and gives you some pamphlets for local werewolf pregnancy/birthing classes as well as recommendations for prenatal vitamins and other supplements you may need as an expecting mother.

_____________________

Six months later….

“Shawn, you can take a rest. My back isn’t hurting anymore.” You look over at Shawn on the bed and he slides his hand out from under your back where he was easing the muscle cramps you had been having lately. He rolls on his side to snuggle against you and lays his hand on your stomach.

“I still can’t believe it,” he mumbles, rubbing your stomach slowly. “Can’t believe you got pregnant during your first heat.”

You roll your eyes and laugh at him. “Hey, it’s your fault. You couldn’t stop fucking me.”

“Oh as if you didn’t need it,” Shawn quips and slides his hand up to massage your breasts. “Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it every single time.”

“Oh I did,” you smirk as you squirm under his touch. The bad thing about getting pregnant was how sensitive you became, particularly when Shawn touched you like this. Everytime he hand his hands on you, even just rubbing your back, you could feel yourself getting aroused. You’re not sure if it was a general pregnancy thing or if it was because you were a wolf an Shawn was your mate. Either way it was equal parts pleasing and annoying. “Shawnnnn,” you groan and he pulls his hand away from your chest and tilts your head to kiss you.

“Sorry, I forgot,” he smiles against your lips. His hand finds its way to your swollen stomach and begins to rub slow circles. “This is still just the best thing ever. I can’t believe I made this little guy with you.”

“Mmmhmm,” you put your hand over his and he stops rubbing for a second so he can pull his hand away and put it over yours instead. “He’s gonna grow up big and strong and loving just like his dad.” You kiss the side of Shawn’s head and he closes his eyes.

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Shawn mumbles after a while, half asleep with his head on your shoulder. “Can’t wait to hold him.”

“Me too…” you smile and the baby kicks against Shawn’s hand on your stomach, “Me too.”

_____________________

Four Months Later

You’re laying in bed with your little bundle of joy resting on your chest. He’s dressed in the little black and yellow moon and stars pajamas that Myra gave you as a present in the hospital. You pet back his dark hair and he yawn, nuzzling his face into your warm skin. You can’t believe he’s yours. Such a beautiful little baby, so healthy and happy. All yours.

“There you are,” Shawn smiles as he walks into the bedroom. He kicks his boots off by the door and peels his work shirt over his head leaving him in his white under shirt. “I should have known it was Kit’s nap time.”

“He tired himself out watching the ceiling fan in the living room while I cleaned up a bit. Then I fed him at lunchtime, but y’know, he wanted more.” You rub his back and he stretches his legs out. “It took two bottles plus a feeding until he was satisfied enough to stop fighting sleep.”

Shawn crawls onto the bed beside you and lays his hand on the baby’s back. “He sounds like me as a baby. My mom said she would have to bottle feed me a up to ten times a day on top of breast feeding when she could. How are you doing with that by the way?”

“Good. I’ve been pumping as much as possible when he’s not feeding. It’s never going to be enough and thankfully powder formula exists. He doesn’t like it as much, but he deals.”

“Let me hold him a while, you just rest,” Shawn says as he tenderly lifts the baby over. “Hey buddy, shh shh,” he murmurs, nosing against Kit’s sparse hair as he fusses from the transfer. “Don’t fuss, it’s just me.”

Kit settles down and grips at Shawn’s tee, little hands bunching up the fabric and pulling. “Have you noticed any wolf traits other than the big appetite?”

“Not yet, other than his hair but that’s not necessarily a wolf thing. We’ll have to see when his teeth start coming in. I hope he’s an alpha like me, but if he isn’t then that’s okay.”

You turn over on your side and yawn, the catching up with you. “He’ll be strong no matter what. Just like you.”

“Like me? No, like you. You’re far stronger than me.”

“How’s that?”

Shawn chuckles. “Honey, you survived the transformation of human to wolf, you carried and birthed a baby not long after that. I could never do that. I am in absolute awe of you every single day of my life and I am so lucky to have you as a mate.”

You feel your cheeks heat up and you press your face into the pillows. “You’re being soft. Shut up.”

He leans over and kisses your head. “I don’t care if I’m the softest alpha ever. I love you and I love being your mate.”

“I love you too.” Kit fusses, making a noise of annoyance at the sounds of your voices. “Looks like he loves us as well.”

“Mmm, a very loving family.”

“Not just a family. A pack.”

Shawn smiles big, hand on Kit’s back, he grabs your hand beside him on the bed and brings you hand up to kiss. “Our pack.”

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Author Note:
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please leave Kudos, comments and more! 
> 
> Find me also at softboyshawn on Tumblr and adubs91593 on Wattpad


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